Quick Picks focuses on a select few of the day’s stories from “Breaking on the Web.”

• Just because Obama has banned earmarks from the stimulus bill doesn’t mean lobbyists are taking a vacation. Instead, they’re scrambling to steer funds in a much more shadowy manner, reports the AP. Stimulus cash will be partly doled out based on the recommendations of Obama officials, governors, and state and local agencies, reports the AP. But this kind of funding will make it much more difficult to track where the money’s going. As one watchdog spokesman puts it, now “projects will be added behind closed doors without a paper trail.”
• Obama officials got a rude shock last week when they finally got their hands on the previous administration’s classified information on the remaining Gitmo detainees. According to the Washington Post, there are “no comprehensive case files on many of them” and the files that are there are “scattered” and “incomplete.” The disarray will likely set back Obama’s plan to close the military prison there, reports the Post.

Check out more of our roundup of the best investigative stories around the Web.

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