we may ask why vs why is this the case

Some examples from the web:

• And we may ask you to appear in ads advocating those positions.
• We may ask whether this will lead to a cancellation of projects already planned.
• That is as much as we may ask of ourselves.
• We may ask you to speak, but what's most important is you'll have to stay calm.
• Just know that if he gets too unmanageable, we may ask you to take care of him.
• Even though we may ask, no woman really wants to hear about an old girlfriend.
• We may ask whether the same thing is in the process of happening to this Commission.
• My readers may ask why you're sittin' next to a warm fire... ...when you should be out on the chase.
• They want to be included in the Commission's emission trading scheme, and you may ask why.
• You may ask why does Scotland not move forward?
• In my view, this comes too late, but we may ask whether we still nevertheless need to draw a functional distinction between supervision of conduct and prudential supervision.
• "If we believe a member of your team is not performing his or her tasks or if there is a problem with conflicts of interest, we may ask you to act," he said.
• We may ask: is a Europe taking form that is greater in spirit and in intent?
• We may ask ourselves: and what about the human factor?
• And many international observers ask why.
• The Minister responsible for civil aviation may ask for additional information.
• You may ask why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous?
• I tried to ask why, but she hung up.
• And yet, we must ask why they thought this to be necessary.
• I think I know who we should ask why.

Some examples from the web:

• The obvious questions are: why is this the case and who is profiting from the situation?
• Why is this the case, Commissioner, and what do you intend to do now?
• Spiegel Online writes 'The Celtic Tiger has been taken into intensive care'.We need to ask why is this the case?
• There are three reasons why this is the case.
• I would appreciate Commission explaining why this is the case.
• If such disclosure would be impracticable, that fact shall be disclosed, together with an explanation of why this is the case.
• If disclosure of this information would be impracticable, that fact shall be disclosed, together with an explanation of why this is the case.
• I would like to know why this is the case.
• We have to ask ourselves why this is the case, as it was certainly possible to submit new proposals on other issues.
• When I asked why this is the case, the administration answered that I could fly to Finland via Rome or Athens.
• Of course, we now need to consider why this is the case.
• Debates on oil shortages are tremendously heated, and I sometimes wonder why this is not the case for water.
• One of the main problems regarding mental health is that it is taboo in all societies, and we should ask ourselves why this is the case.
• I would like to use this opportunity to briefly recapitulate on why this is the case.
• We will have to move on to harmonization, and there are many reasons why this is the case.
• You described why this is the case, namely because of what is known as the British rebate.
• I ask myself why this is not yet the case.
• Why is this not the case, given that opportunities have been devised for even Russia, for example, to be involved?
• Can you explain why this is not the case?
• If disclosure of any of that information would be impracticable, that fact shall be disclosed, together with an explanation of why this is the case.