Rep. Weldon briefed on firm's corruption before asking for their dough

With evidence like this against the sleazy Pennsylvania Republican, it shouldn't be long before he starts pleading alcoholism.

Four months later, ITERA signed a $500,000 contract with Solutions North America, a firm led by Karen Weldon, the congressman's twenty-nine-year-old daughter. Karen's job, according to lobbyist disclosure filings, was to create “good public relations so in the future ITERA may sell goods and services to U.S. entities.” Representative Weldon—who is now the target of an unfolding federal investigation—helped create that good P.R. by continuing to make favorable pronouncements about the controversial Russian firm.

This is all very interesting when you consider that Weldon was aggressively flacking for ITERA even after he received a detailed briefing that outlined how ITERA reaped the benefits of Gazprom's corruption. I was able to obtain a copy of this briefing, which was prepared by a Russian businessman who worked closely with Weldon. In the letter the businessman stated that ITERA had quickly emerged as a multibillion dollar energy firm for one reason: “the cover of Gazprom higher management and its personal interest in [ITERA's] prosperity.”

Had Weldon been interested, a simple Google search would have turned up plenty of dirt on ITERA. Between late 2000 and early 2001, a number of prominent publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, had written about shady dealings at Gazprom. Beginning in the late 1990s, the conglomerate sold off companies and assets reportedly worth nearly $6 billion, for which it received little more than $300 million.