One of the state's most powerful committees finally has the documents it has been demanding — documents which kickstarted one of the strangest sagas in the recent history of WA politics — but the drama is not even close to finished.

In fact, it is just getting started.

And there could still be enormous repercussions for some of the most powerful people in Western Australia, in the fallout from a situation sparked by a misconduct investigation into three former MPs and the potential misuse of parliamentary entitlements more broadly.

Department of Premier and Cabinet boss Darren Foster's appearance before the Procedure and Privileges Committee last Friday, armed with two flash drives containing millions of documents, will likely put the saga out of the public's eye for a few weeks at least.

But just because it will likely be playing out behind the scenes for a little while to come does not mean the drama has disappeared.

For one, WA MPs are having their financial accounts pored over in great detail, with authorities looking for even the slightest hint of improper conduct.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has audited a large share of MPs in recent times, with a particular focus on how they spent the $100,000-plus in allowances they received each year.

WA MPs are having their financial accounts and expenses pored over in great detail. ( ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck )

"It was absolutely horrendous," was how one recently-audited MP described it, detailing that they had been questioned in great detail about a receipt worth just a few dollars and were left to stump up thousands in fees to an accountant through the process — before being told they had done nothing wrong.

And it is not just the ATO doing the detailed examination, with the lid lifted last week on a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) investigation which has heard that a lack of accountability regarding allowances "may allow corrupt practices to occur".

Deep concerns over conduct of CCC boss

Former MPs have already been raided and that's unlikely to be the end of it, with CCC commissioner John McKechnie confirming the investigation still had a while to run.

The saga could also have significant implications for Mr McKechnie, who was sufficiently worried that he could be found in contempt of Parliament last week that he threatened to resign.

John McKechnie is seeking to erode oversight of the CCC, according to some MPs. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

That risk appears to have subsided, at least in the immediate future, but a significant number of state MPs from across the political spectrum have deep concerns about the conduct of the CCC boss through this situation.

Mr McKechnie has challenged the status of Parliament by bypassing it in the CCC's investigations and is seeking to erode oversight of one of WA's most powerful bodies, according to the view held by some MPs.

Beyond all that, though, is what all this means for the McGowan Government.

Loyalty and fury leaves McGowan in a jam

Mark McGowan has firmly stood by Mr Foster, the loyal servant the Premier hand-picked to lead his own department, and is absolutely adamant the head bureaucrat has done nothing wrong.

By defending Mr Foster so strongly, Mr McGowan has firmly tied himself to the fortunes of a bureaucrat now under investigation for the serious charge of contempt of Parliament.

The parliamentary committee's findings are threatening to divide the WA Government. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

And that is not the only potential sticky point for the Premier, who was so furious at the Procedure and Privileges Committee that he labelled their probe of Mr Foster a "witch-hunt".

Keep in mind two of the five members of that committee are Labor MPs, including the most senior — Upper House president Kate Doust.

"They know my views," Mr McGowan said pointedly when asked what discussions he had with his Labor MPs about the issue.

Labor unity in question as spat threatens to explode

After surviving an attempt by members of his own frontbench to topple him for Stephen Smith 12 months before the last election, Mr McGowan has been at pains to portray his Labor team as united and functional.

Mark McGowan is sticking by Mr Foster and says some of his Labor MPs "know my views". ( ABC News: Benjamin Gubana )

But mounting that argument when there has been such a public spat with members of the Labor partyroom is inevitably a more difficult task.

It is all very complex and may well make the eyes of more than a few voters glaze over.

But with at least three former MPs under investigation, plenty more having questions asked about their expenses, a bitter feud within Labor continuing and a contempt of Parliament probe into one of the Premier's closest allies, what has already been a bizarre saga still threatens at any point to blow up into something much more serious.