ES&T reporter Paul D. Thacker pours a lot into this "untold story" of how a front-page Journal piece and a conservative Texas Republican (and chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce) "morphed former mining executive Stephen McIntyre into a scientific superstar." The lengthy report details efforts by Rep. Joe Barton to look into raw scientific data underlying the widely publicized -- and in some circles controversial -- "hockey stick" function that figures prominently in the climate change literature. Barton's demand for raw data from three prominent climate change scientists has reverberated throughout the scientific community, with accusations of the legislator's using scare tactics, "McCarthyite" techniques, and so forth. Liberal legislators and editorial pages -- backed by key elements of the professional scientific establishment -- have condemned the foray as further politicizing science. It's a story well known to, and carefully followed by, a small group of proverbial "inside the Beltway" science policy geeks. But Thacker's detailed article spreads the word to a sophisticated science readership, providing a valuable service.