Posted on 10/16/2006 10:17:57 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Agents raid homes of Rep. Curt Weldon’s daughter, close friend By John Shiffman, Mitch Lipka and Patrick Kerkstra INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
Federal agents raided the home of the daughter of U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) and his longtime friend Charlie Sexton this morning.
The agents departed Karen Weldon's three-story brick home on Queen Street in Philadelphia with arms loaded with boxes.
A government car pulled into the alley to the back door of the house and loaded boxes into it. Three agents standing in an alley declined to identify themselves.
"I can confirm that we conducted a number of searches regarding an ongoing investigation," said FBI agent Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman in Philadelphia. "Details regarding those investigation cannot be provided because the accompanying affidavit is sealed."
In Delaware County, FBI agents had blocked off Kelli Lane leading to Charles P. Sexton Jr.'s Springfield house, and were removing at least one box and a bag of material from his home late this morning. Sexton, a long time ally of Weldon and a power in Delaware County GOP politics for more than three decades, is a business associate of Weldon's daughter.
The raids came three days after news broke that the FBI is investigating whether the Delaware County congressman used his influence to help his daughter, a registered lobbyist, win consulting contracts.
(Excerpt) Read more at siliconvalley.com ...
Its an amazing coincidence that so many revelations about republicans appear right before elections. Somehow the media never seems to notice or care how they are used to swing elections (for rats) based on scandal and rumor.
"If I wrote the rules of Congress, you couldn't have a first degree relative being a paid lobbyist. Father, mother, brother, sister, WIFE, son, daughter. Convince them to quit or you quit. It is such an obvious conflict of interest it just shouldn't be tolerated."
Please tell dirty Harry Reid whose son is a lobbyist.
This is Philly Mo. The whole place is Rat infested. It's the Philly FBI. I'm thinking the police chief, who's son works for them, or Street, or Abraham, or Rendell. Pick your poison.
You're right .. it's the Police Chief's son
I remember many thought it was him that tipped off Street when his office was raided
Don't forget Rendell. He's buddy buddy with Hildabeast. I just called Weldon's office and wished them luck. Told them this smells and they agreed with me who it might be. Also told me the race is too tight right now.
Well .. Like I said before .. Weldon has my vote
Pa. Rep. Curt Weldon under federal probe
Saturday, October 14, 2006
By Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry. The Russian companies and a Serbian foundation run by the brothers' family each hired a firm co-owned by Mr. Weldon's daughter, Karen, for fees totaling nearly $1 million a year, public records show.
Karen Weldon was 28 and lacked consulting experience when she and Charles Sexton, a Weldon ally and longtime Republican leader in Delaware County, Pa., created the firm of Solutions North America Inc. in 2002. Both are registered with the Justice Department as representatives of foreign clients.
Word of the inquiry, which has been closely held within the Justice Department and the FBI, comes from two individuals with specific knowledge of the existence of the investigation. They both declined to be identified because of the confidentiality of criminal investigations.
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FBI is said to be probing Weldon over his influence
A close friend calls timing of the leaks "awful strange."
By Todd Mason and John Shiffman
Inquirer Staff Writers
The FBI is investigating whether U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) used his influence to help his daughter win consulting contracts, sources say, a development that could influence his close race for reelection. Weldon's campaign denied that an investigation was underway. "Our attorney tells us it is preposterous," said Michael V. Puppio Jr., his campaign manager.
"The allegation in a tight race like this does the damage," Puppio said last night. "You owe a duty to dig a little deeper."
Weldon, who has served 10 terms in Congress, is running neck and neck with retired Navy admiral Joe Sestak.
The investigation, based in Washington, has progressed beyond the preliminary stages, people familiar with the case told The Inquirer yesterday. McClatchy Newspapers broke the story.
FBI spokeswoman Deborah Weierman in Washington declined comment. Weldon's lawyer in Washington, William B. Canfield III, could not be reached at work, at home or by e-mail last night.
Charles Sexton, a political ally of the congressman and a business partner of his daughter, said the timing of the leaks is "awful strange."
"No one has contacted me," he said. "People can look at us all day long. There is no wrongdoing."
Sexton and Karen Weldon, 32, formed a public relations firm, Solutions North America, in 2002, and won $1 million in contracts from two Russian energy firms and a Serbian family with ties to Slobodan Milosevic.
That business dealing was first reported in 2004 by the Los Angeles Times. Sources said the FBI and Justice Department investigation was based on the Times story. The Inquirer reported in 2004 that Weldon had lobbied federal officials on behalf of one of those firms, Itera, a huge and controversial Russian natural gas company.
Weldon also complained to Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, about Itera's treatment by the federal U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Itera paid $500,000 to Karen Weldon and Sexton's firm. The contract was signed in Sept. 30, 2002, six days after the congressman helped arrange a dinner at the Library of Congress to honor Itera and Igor Makarov, the firm's chief executive officer.
Itera had a controversial past; Western investors in the former Soviet Union contended that the firm's rapid growth was a result of improper business deals.
Weldon was a student of the Soviet Union, and has frequently traveled to Eastern Europe.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15757798.htm
But you can't get me to believe that a local FBI office can raid a congressman's daughter without approval from the big guys at the FBI in Washington. So who in DC would have approved this raid at this time? This stinks.
I'm voting straight Repub.
I know Weldon tends to be highly regarded on these pages. However, before he was a Congressman, he was the long-time mayor of Marcus Hook, PA. Marcus Hook is a grimy industrial town in the grimy industrial part of Delaware County, a largely blue collar suburb of Philadelphia. Delaware County politics have never been what you'd call "pristine." If, as Tip O'Neill once observed, "all politics is local," a great deal of political corruption is local as well. I'm betting that is just what is involved here.
I think we all want all the dirty politicians run out of town. If all the dirty politicians were run out of town I truly doubt they could get a quorum in either the House or the Senate. However that isnt the point. The point is how come the FBI waited until 3 weeks before the election to start coming out in the open with these investiogations of republicans.
The official said that the FBI recently sought the assistance of federal prosecutors in pressuring an unidentified person to provide evidence about the 59-year-old congressman. The attempt to "squeeze" this individual appeared to be an early step, the two sources said.
It is uncertain whether the current investigation will blossom into a full-blown inquiry that will result in criminal charges being filed. It is possible at this stage of the investigation that nothing will come of it. But the FBI typically does not seek the involvement of the Justice Department unless it finds substance to the evidence it has gathered.
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From the AP:
Two people familiar with the investigation told the AP on Saturday that the inquiry was being handled by agents from the FBI's field offices in Washington and Philadelphia and was being coordinated by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section.
http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-42/1160851745196070.xml&storylist=penn
You know this stinks to high heaven when the FBI starts tearing pictures off the walls, knocking lamps over, and turning the sofa upside down in a congresscritter's daughter's house unannounced. But, if your name is Harry Reid or William Jefferson Democrat of Louisiana, stay the hell out.
If someone is dirty, I really don't care when the investigations are done.
shhhhhhhhhh...(the clintons)
You must be joking.
Which two senate seats?
OK, let me guess: the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section is run by liberal Clinton holdovers?
I hope this gets you mad enough to walk your precinct for Curt. I'm walking my precinct for the other Weldon in Congress, because of the mud that the leftist Florida Today continues to throw at Conservatives. If we all channel our outrage, perhaps we will make a difference.
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