Posted on 10/18/2006 9:53:22 AM PDT by americaprd
A day after the FBI raided the offices of a lobbying firm run by Rep. Curt Weldon's daughter and his close friend, the Republican's campaign blamed publicity about the Justice Department investigation on "the left-wing, liberal attack machine."
The FBI is investigating whether Weldon used his influence to get Karen Weldon's firm nearly $1 million in lobbying contracts with foreign companies, two people familiar with the inquiry have told The Associated Press.
Weldon pushed the agendas of three of the firm's clients in public and private, at times urging the U.S. to buy their weapons or issue them visas, according to news reports published over the past 2 1/2 years.
On Monday, Weldon questioned the timing of the raids and said his sometimes unpopular stances may have angered people on both sides of the aisle — including Republicans who control the Justice Department.
"Bureaucracy is not Democrat or Republican. Come on," Weldon said Monday.
But on Tuesday, his campaign lashed out at the left.
"Now three weeks before the election, the left-wing, liberal attack machine has launched a coordinated effort to smear U.S. Rep. Weldon and his family in a desperate attempt to steal this seat," Weldon's campaign said in a statement.
Weldon's campaign spokesman said there are Clinton-era holdovers among the civil-service employees in the Justice Department.
"I don't mean to impugn the motive of the Justice Department, but there may be partisan motives for leaking word of this inquiry three weeks before the election," the spokesman, Pete Peterson, said.
The 10-term incumbent already faced a razor-close race against Democratic challenger Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral. The two are scheduled to debate Friday.
Weldon has clashed with the Bush administration and others in Washington. Over the past year, the congressman has repeatedly said a secret military unit called "Able Danger" used data.m.ining to link four Sept. 11 hijackers to al-Qaida more than a year before the attacks. The Pentagon rejects the idea.
The FBI on Monday raided six sites in Pennsylvania and Florida linked to Karen Weldon, her business partner Charles P. Sexton Jr. and their firm. The FBI removed evidence from their homes and office and from the Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters of their former client, a Russian energy firm called Itera International Energy Corp.
The lawmaker on Tuesday blamed the investigation on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which he said was supported by Democratic activists. In 2004, the group asked the Justice Department to investigate Weldon for alleged bribery for "using his public office to benefit companies that hired his daughter as a lobbyist."
Weldon has not received a target letter — essentially a prelude to an indictment — and has not been contacted by the Justice Department about the probe, Peterson said.
Philadelphia attorney Jim Rohn, who was retained Monday to represent Karen Weldon, said she has not received a target letter and has offered to cooperate.
"From my point of view, my client hasn't done anything wrong. I've been in touch with the prosecutor, and I've offered to have her cooperate," Rohn said.
Karen Weldon, 32, runs Solutions Worldwide with Sexton, one of her father's closest friends and political allies. Sexton ran the Republican Party in Delaware County, Weldon's home base, for decades.
Sexton's lawyer, Joseph Fioravanti, declined to comment on the investigation Tuesday.
Didn't the House Ethics Committee investigate this in 2004 and determine there is no THERE there?
The offspring of politicians and famous people don't have any advantages over the rest of us. Curt Weldon's daughter would've been able to start a successful multi-million dollar lobbying and consulting business even if her father had been a pest control guy.
Democrats know which buttons to push because they've practiced the same thing they accuse Weldon of.
"Weldon's campaign spokesman said there are Clinton-era holdovers among the civil-service employees in the Justice Department."
The "new tone" comes back to bite the GOP in the butt once again.
Memo to GOP President wantabes. Never try this new tone thing again with the Rats. IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The offspring of politicians and famous people don't have any advantages over the rest of us.
____________
I have to disagree. The contacts and money available to the offspring of politicians and famous people get them into doors you and I would spend quite a bit longer trying to open.
Uh, you need to read my second sentence... (grin)
Bush was stupid to let this go forward. There's no way that the FBI would raid a congressman's relatives to try to bring him down without the FBI Director's agreement. And there's no way that Mueller would or should agree to such a politically sensitive move without informing the President beforehand.
Letting this happen right before the election is pure, blind political stupidity of the worst kind.
dammit ... I hate it when I miss untagged sarcasm. At least once a week, but hell, who's keeping score?
(laugh) Happens to all of us, bud! We keep on keeping on keeping on...
The Half-Vast Left Wing Conspiracy?
One thing I'd have to say though is Weldon has not really helped himself any by getting tied up with them Ruskis.
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