FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 29, 2004
1:09 PM
CONTACT: Public Citizen
Main Office: 202-588-1000

Public Citizen Asks Justice Department to Probe House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay and Energy Firm Officials for Possible Bribery
Watchdog Group Says New Documents May Link DeLay and Two Other
Congressmen and Company Execs in Scheme to Buy Political Access

WASHINGTON -- December 29 -- Public Citizen today asked the U.S.
Department of Justice to conduct a formal investigation of possible
violations of federal anti-bribery statutes by House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and former Rep. W.J.
"Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), as well as executives and lobbyists for the
Kansas-based Westar Energy, Inc.

In a letter to Noel Hillman, chief of the Justice Department's criminal
division, Public Citizen wrote that substantial evidence, especially
newly-released documents from a House ethics committee investigation,
suggests a possible scheme using campaign contributions to buy
political favors worth millions of dollars to Westar Energy and its
executives.

Besides the Westar executives, Public Citizen alleged that DeLay,
Barton, who is the current chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, and Tauzin, who was the former chairman of the committee but
now is head of the drug industry's trade association, possibly provided
legislative favors in exchange for campaign contributions in violation
of the federal "Bribery of Public Officials and Witnesses" statute.

According to Public Citizen, after making strategic campaign
contributions, Westar appears to have been rewarded with a provision
inserted into energy legislation in 2002 to exempt the company from
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight if the Public
Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) were repealed. PUHCA was slated for
repeal in the House-passed energy bill in 2002, and the special
exemption for Westar was later quietly inserted by the House Republican
leaders into the final bill being negotiated in a House-Senate
conference committee. The exemption was later dropped after it became
known that Westar was under investigation for securities fraud, and the
energy bill later died.

Public Citizen originally sought an investigation of the apparent
money-for-political-favors arrangement by the Justice Department in
June 2003. Today's letter, and the earlier complaint filed by Public
Citizen, are available online at:
www.citizen.org/cmep/westarbribery/

The watchdog group said newly-released information significantly
bolsters its concern about possible criminal violations and strengthens
its request for a formal investigation.

"In light of the new evidence that money may have been exchanged for
preferential legislative treatment for Westar, we request that the
Department of Justice conduct a formal investigation into possible
violations of federal anti-bribery statutes," said Public Citizen
President Joan Claybrook.

Public Citizen cited documents, released as part of a recent ethics
investigation of DeLay by the House Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct, including:

* An April 2002 memorandum from Westar lobbyist Richard Bornemann
to Westar Vice President Doug Lawrence, recommending that Westar pursue
a "Platinum Package" of campaign contributions, including a $25,000
soft money contribution to DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority
(TRMPAC) leadership PAC, and $31,500 in additional "hard" money
contributions to a list of candidates associated with Reps. Barton and
Tauzin for the purpose of gaining a "place at the table" during the
House conference committee. Most of the contributions were made by
Westar, including $25,000 given to TRMPAC.
* A May 2002 e-mail from Bornemann to Lawrence, stating that "I
absolutely detest asking you for money. We all prefer to think that our
powerful personalities and strategic brilliance transcend such
grubbiness. Anyway, let's sum up the needs discussed in our
conversation today. They keep to the boundaries of the ‘platinum'
budget as approved."
* A May 2002 memo from Lawrence to Westar executives, detailing
their responsibilities to contribute money to campaigns associated with
Barton and Tauzin in exchange for passage of a company-specific
exemption from federal government oversight.
* A May 2002 e-mail from former DeLay energy staffer Drew Maloney
to DeLay's TRMPAC staffer Chris Perkins explaining Westar's desired
special exemption ("a unique problem that was addressed in the House
bill") in the energy bill. Westar executives presented their exemption
request to the House majority whip at a DeLay golf outing; their
invitation to the golf outing, and the opportunity to talk one-on-one
with DeLay and his staff members, was viewed as a reward for the
company's $25,000 soft money contribution to TRMPAC.
* The Westar provision was slipped into the House conference
language being negotiated with the Senate in early September 2002. On
September 19, Barton (and, by proxy, DeLay, and Tauzin and five other
House Republican conferees) opposed a Democratic move to delete it from
a House-Senate compromise version of the energy legislation.

"It's hard to find a more offensive example of trading legislative
favors for campaign contributions," said Claybrook. "The Justice
Department needs to get to the bottom of this."