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"Kansas-based '''Westar Energy''', which in 2002 sought a federal tax break, gave $25,000 to win 'a seat at the table' during congressional deliberations about the provision, even though it had no business in Texas, according to an internal company e-mail that surfaced in a criminal probe. Its executives joined [Tom] DeLay at a Puerto Rico golf resort owned by a TRMPAC contributor that year. DeLay supported the tax break Westar wanted." [http://www.ljworld.com/section/politics/story/175489 ''Washington Post'', July 12, 2004]. On December 28, 2004, ''Public Citizen'' asked the [[Department of Justice]] to investigate '''Westar Energy''' for "possible bribery of members of Congress, including Tom DeLay, by Westar executives and [[lobbyist]]s." [http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/energybill/westar/articles.cfm?ID=12746]
See the [http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/energybill/westar/ Westar Energy Bribery Scandal] web page by ''Public Citizen'', which includes links to press releases, memos, letters, timeline, and background information on the scandal.
==SourceWatch Resources==
*[[Enron]]
*[[Thomas D. DeLay]]
*[[Thomas D. DeLay: External Links 2004]]
==External Links==
*[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/06/politics/main557368.shtml "Firm's Cash Sought GOP Favors,"] CBS News/AP, June 6, 2003.
*[http://www.publicampaign.org/publications/ouch-cpi/101-120/ouch117.htm "Enough DeLay: Investigate Westar Scandal,"] ''ouch'', June 12, 2003.
*Tyson Slocum, [http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8132 "Washington's Other Scandal,"] ''Tom Paine.Common Sense'', May 7, 2004: "Representatives Tom DeLay (R-Texas), [[Billy Tauzin]] (R-La.) and [[Joe Barton]] (R-Texas) are implicated in a bribery scandal involving a corrupt Kansas electric utility, Westar Energy."
*R. Jeffrey Smith, [http://www.ljworld.com/section/politics/story/175489 "E-mail shows DeLay sought Enron aid,"] ''Washington Post'', July 12, 2004.
[[category:scandals]]
