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Aide to Ex-Rep. Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Charges
It's been a long time since we've had the opportunity to write about Ex-Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) after his ignominious defeat last November (he asked voters for "the benefit of the doubt" and they didn't give it to him). But unfortunately for Weldon, he's back in the news:
Former representative Curt Weldon's chief of staff has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges for allegedly helping a consulting firm that Weldon championed obtain federal funds and for concealing money the firm paid him and his wife, according to court papers unsealed today.According to the court document, Russell James Caso and a top official at the unnamed consulting firm met repeatedly with Weldon to seek the Pennsylvania Republican's help in obtaining federal funds for the organization's defense projects....
The court papers make no accusations against Weldon. But they say Caso "intentionally" concealed payments of $19,000 from the firm to his wife by failing to report them in congressional disclosure forms "even though he knew he was required to do so."
Although the papers make no direct charges against him, Weldon appears in the charging document as "Representative A," which is mighty bad news. It's a pattern that prosecutors have followed repeatedly in the Jack Abramoff scandal -- getting guilty pleas from former staffers and cutting cooperation deals with them in order to build cases against their former boss. Look out, Curt! It's amazing that the left-wing conspiracy to bring him down has persisted even after his forced retirement.
Update: Here's the "information," the document that lays out the charges to which Caso is pleading guilty.
Eat your heart out Mrs. Panstreppon!
December 4, 2007 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Every article about Curt Weldon should feature the photo of Weldon presenting the terrorist Khadafi with some sort of medal around Khadafi's neck in 2004. It was some sort of bizarre ceremony arranged by Reverend Moon.
Link to a photo I found using google:
http://www.politics1.com/news/moonie-weldon.jpg
December 4, 2007 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of Mrs. P, she did a fine research job not too long ago looking into Weldon.
The "Foundation" that Caso was receiving illegal payments was called the US-Russia Exchange Council. The website lists Weldon as a board member - and alludes to the fact that he "envisioned" the whole operation.
Weldon confidante John Gallagher also runs the place. A great read can be found here:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/mrs_panstreppon/2006/nov/16/more_on_the_rep_curt_weldon_r_pa_investigation_part_ii
December 4, 2007 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
And another one of the Republican Crime Wave Neo Con Congresscritters will soon be bought to justice. The Weldon Investigation is progressing exactly like all the rest of them - (re Congressman Ney et al.)
And to all the assorted Trolls and other naysayers out there lurking on these " inter net tubes" -you all can keep bitchin , whining , & disassembling- buts its not going to change the eventual outcome to all of this political contributions for political favors game of charades,,
All of this pay to play crap is illegal, and it all touches Abramoff some how - and dear old Jack is stil ratting out the corrupted politicians.
And who by the way has Wilkes ratted out in his plea bargain -remember dear Trolls - that Wilkes & Mitchell at MZM , had many questionable deals done with various governmental agencies- including Darth Cheney's office -
Nope , this is far far from over - its even going to be stretched out into 2009 -so Dubya can't pardon many of these miscreants,- and several will be going to join the Dukester ...
And Mrs. Penstreppon I JUST WANT TO SAY ATTAGIRL for all of your good research & hardwork - ( Betcha the next to fall will be someone from former Chairman's Lewis's office)
December 5, 2007 4:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Al in Austex...the next plea deal may come from a Charles Taylor (former congressman in NC) staffer. Beginning in 2001 Vladmir Putin began taking over private banks allegedly to become state-owned, but in reality the new owners just were members of Putin's crime gang. Somehow Taylor managed to keep control of his Russian bank. This has to make us wonder what official acts Taylor committed for Putin's crime gang!
The most important point in this plea deal is the last page where for the first time a signature appears from US DOJ's Organized Crime and Racketeering division! Six years ago my company, inventor of what NIST calls "smart wallet" declined a 100 % financing package with a wrapper of the Russian federal government. One reason we declined the package was b/c that government was taken control of by organized crime. As the offer was sweetened and still we declined it, we were told everyone who needed to be bought in the US was bought to deny us funding and to disallow us to realize our # 1 position in federal credentialing programs based on merit. WE HAVE OUR OWN STORY WITH REGARD TO WILKES AND FOGGO THAT OUGHT TO BE EMERGING WHEN THEIR TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY!
Six years later no one has heard of the smart wallet still, but US DOJ is beginning to unravel why. When the San Diego Tribune under FOIA obtained a 76 pp document many months ago from the FBI, a footnote in the document told how Cunningham knew he was being bribed by the Russian Mafia.
For all readers' benefit: Both the Abramoff and Cunningham corruption probes have an underlying common thread of Russian mafia. When Putin took control of the Kremlin, the mafia began to invest in legitimate businesses. The US DHS has awarded contracts to all the mafia's investment companies b/c of congressional corruption and to encourage additional contracts be awarded the mafia had to be sure that homegrown terror cell members remained well trained and amply financed. The Kremlin also was behind 911 and Anna Politkovskaya reported the Wahabi training camps are in Chechnya--set-up when Putin first took control of the FSB (former KGB) in 6/98.
December 10, 2007 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does anyone know if this is going to slow down the opening of the PA TRADE OFFICE in Moscow, slated to occur by end of 2007?
December 12, 2007 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink