Kan. Utility Fined for 2002 FEC Violations (DeLay)

[deminks]

WASHINGTON Aug 18, 2005 — Westar Energy Inc., two former company executives and a lobbyist agreed to pay fines totaling $40,500 to settle accusations of violating federal election laws by using corporate resources to make political contributions to members of Congress, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The contributions were made by top former Westar executives who used company personnel and resources to collect and distribute the contributions during the 2002 election cycle. Thirteen Westar executives contributed $32,700 in response to solicitations from the executives, the Federal Election Commission said in documents released Thursday.

Two Westar executives left the company at the end of 2002 after being accused of trying to loot the company during their tenure and are now facing a 40-count indictment on fraud.

Westar's contributions were questioned after the company disclosed internal documents describing a plan for using more than $55,000 in campaign donations "to get a seat at the table" of a House-Senate conference committee working on the Bush administration's energy bill in 2002.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1049899&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[pfitz59]

1. Any surprise?

They're all doing it, only a few get "caught"! Bribe was probably too small! (Halliburton pays Cheney $100K a month!)