Aide to Ex-Rep. Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy ChargesIt’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.