While facing scrutiny from Congress, the Justice Department, and hundreds of lawsuits, General Motors has launched their own internal investigation of the events surrounding the recall of millions of their vehicles. The investigation is currently trying to determine if top executives were aware of the problem — or even actively suppressed the information.

According to a statement by GM spokesman Greg Martin, “Mr. Valukas [the head of the internal investigation] has free rein to go wherever the facts may lead.”

Anton Valukus is a former U.S. attorney. GM has hired Mr. Valukas to conduct their internal investigation. The spokesman’s statement was emailed to the National Law Journal.

The investigation goes back to an allegedly defective ignition switch circuit in a number of GM vehicles. The alleged defect could cause a car’s motor to shut down while driving, and simultaneously disable the airbag. GM has acknowledged that this defect has caused 13 deaths. Various investigations and GM lawsuits have alleged that car company was aware of this problem for years before taking the critical steps to recall the defective vehicles.

Valukas’s investigation is looking back over ignition switch lawsuit settlements. A 2011 GM lawsuit has come into focus, brought by the parents of Brooke Melton, who died when her car’s ignition system tripped into the “accessory” position while driving, shutting the car down and causing a fatal accident. Allegedly, the settlement revealed that GM executives and engineers were aware of the problems with the ignition switch. Allegedly, GM engineers made changes to later-generation vehicles to correct the issue — before warning the public and initiating the recall. Many of the core issues related to the recall hinge on the issue of possible inaction by GM, which could have further endangered the public.

GM is already facing millions in fines. In fact, the House Energy and Congress Committee is rumored to be gearing up for a congressional-level grilling. Along similar lines, the Transportation Secretary has issued a $35 million dollar fine to GM, the largest that department can issue.

While individual GM lawsuits have been filed over the ignition switch issue, a GM class action lawsuit is currently being organized. A class action lawsuit is a type of group lawsuit where a number of plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harms at the hands of the same defendants. Group lawsuits like class action lawsuits are designed to help streamline the legal process by combining dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individual potential individual lawsuits into a single coordinated lawsuit. This saves time and resources for all parties involved.