Friday, November 19, 2004
From the Republican Corruption Beat
A month-old part of the story which I just came upon:0 comments
Westar role in scandal small, crucial
The DeLay Gerrymander America PAC scandal, that is.
This is the same illegal contributions scandal that prompted the Houston grand jury investigation that, in turn, prompted this week's House Republican Caucus vote to support crime and corruption among its leadership that, in turn, prompted many Americans to start thinking about Congressional turnover in 2006.
Just so you know, the names of Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Billy Tausin (R-LA), and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) all figure prominently in this investigation.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay started this Gerrymander America PAC to get the Texas legislature to rework its congressional districts in order to unseat Democratic incumbents, which you know. And it worked, although DeLay had to abuse his political power and federal position to dupe federal agencies into illegally getting involved in a intrastate squabble to pull it all off.
In the meantime, former Westar Energy CEO David Wittig gave large (and, yes, illegal it turns out) contributions to DeLay's Gerrymander America PAC
in return for favorable treatment—"to get a seat at the table"—before a powerful congressional conference committee working on an overhaul of the nation's energy laws.
Aahhhh... There's that pesky Republican / Energy thing again.
Oh, and in yet another of those amazing Executive / Politician Corruption inter-connections, it appears the above-mentioned Representatives and Senator had their reasons for denying any involvement with Westar's Wittig. It seems Mr. Wittig has his own sizeable problems with the legal system, quite separate and apart from his making illegal contributions to Majority Leader DeLay.
posted by Gotham 4:36 PM
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