FBI agents conducted raids in two states Monday as part of an investigation into whether Rep. Curt Weldon used his influence to steer business to a lobbying firm owned by his daughter and a one-time campaign aide, Justice Department officials and others familiar with the probe said.
Federal investigators are trying to determine whether the Pennsylvania Republican helped secure almost $1 million in contracts for Solutions North America, run by his daughter, Karen, and a Philadelphia-area Republican, Charles Sexton, who once served as Weldon’s campaign finance chief.
The raids are a setback for the Republican Party as it struggles to maintain control of Congress. Weldon, who represents a suburban Philadelphia district, is in a close campaign race with a retired Navy vice admiral.
The FBI on Monday searched four locations in Pennsylvania, including the homes and office of Karen Weldon and Sexton. Also searched was the Jacksonville headquarters of Itera International Energy Corp., the U.S. arm of a diversified Russian-based oil and gas company.
The FBI also searched the law office of a Philadelphia attorney, John Gallagher, a longtime Weldon friend and supporter who did legal work for the consulting firm, said people familiar with the probe. The FBI did not raid Weldon’s home or office.
In Pennsylvania on Monday, Weldon called the investigation politically motivated. “I’ve never helped my daughter get anything. My kids are qualified on their own,” he said.
His attorney questioned the timing of the disclosure of the probe. “I think it is very suspicious that 2 1/2 years after the Los Angeles Times broke the story, that the FBI is now getting around to looking at it three weeks before the election,” said William Canfield.
Canfield said the House ethics committee reviewed the case and the matter was resolved “in a way that was satisfactory to everyone.”
In 2004, the Times disclosed that Solutions North America won contracts from companies or individuals that Weldon tried to help. The beneficiaries included two struggling Russian companies and a Serbian family linked to Slobodan Milosevic, the late Yugoslav leader who was on trial for war crimes.
