Last week, we reported on the guilty plea for destroying evidence by Cecilia Grimes.  She was a close associate of former Congressman Curt Weldon.   In 2006, he made CREW's list of most corrupt members of Congress -- and he blamed CREW for his ethical problems.  Seriously.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms. Grimes is cooperating with authorities:

A Delaware County real estate agent and close friend of former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon who became a Capitol Hill lobbyist pleaded guilty yesterday to destroying evidence related to the FBI's investigation of Weldon.

Cecilia M. Grimes, 43, became the second close Weldon associate to plead guilty and agree to cooperate with the FBI in its corruption investigation of the 10-term Republican congressman, his Russian business associates, and others.

In part, the FBI is investigating whether Weldon agreed to support contracts for Grimes' clients "as a quid pro quo for the payment of fees" by contractors to her lobbying firm, court papers say. Authorities are also investigating Weldon's relationship with Russian energy companies.

Weldon, once a powerful and outspoken vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, has denied any wrongdoing.

Grimes' plea-agreement documents do not specify who she is cooperating against. The case is being handled jointly by public-corruption and organized-crime prosecutors.

The Curt Weldon saga continues.  This week, a very close associate of the former Congressman pleaded guilty to a charge that she destroyed evidence:

A lobbyist and good friend of former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) plead guilty Friday to destruction of evidence charges related to a federal probe of the ex-lawmaker, the Justice Department announced.

Cecilia Grimes, 43, a partner in a Pennsylvania-based lobbying firm, was charged with throwing her Blackberry in a trash can near an Arby’s fast food restaurant after talking with federal agents about her firm’s contacts with Weldon.

The indictment alleged that she disposed of the Blackberry “for the purpose of keeping the FBI from reviewing certain of her e-mails.”

She faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The former Chief of Staff to former Congressman Curt Weldon, Russell Caso, is pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in a case relating to work done while during Weldon's tenure in Congress.  Weldon was named one of the most corrupt members of Congress in CREW's 2006 edition of Beyond DeLay.   The Pennsylvania Republican was defeated in 2006 -- and it appears that the federal investigators aren't finished with him.   Last year, on a number of occasions, Weldon blamed CREW for his ethical problems.

The Washington Post has the details: 

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.

A "criminal information," the document filed today in U.S. District Court in Washington that accuses someone of a felony, cannot be submitted to the court without the defendant's permission. It indicates a plea agreement has been reached.

The court papers make no accusations against Weldon. 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."

The firm is described as a nonprofit group whose purpose was to help American businesses operate in Russia. Weldon served on its governing council, according to the court document.

The papers indicate that Weldon, who is identified as "Representative A," was a "strong supporter" of the consulting firm and directed Caso to meet with high-level Bush administration officials to seek federal funds for it.

The surprising news that the usually moribund House Ethics Committee actually did something made the Washington Post this afternoon:   

On a day Democrats planned to unveil a new package of ethics proposals, House leaders today announced that two Republican lawmakers had violated congressional gift rules.

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) will pay the U.S. Treasury the $5,643 cost of a trip to Scotland allegedly paid by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, leaders of the House ethics committee said today.

Separately, outgoing Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who lost a reelection bid in November, also violated House gift rules and will pay more than $23,000 to donors of a trip he took with several family members, the committee leaders said.

The violations were disclosed shortly before Democrats -- who take control of Congress tomorrow -- planned to announced a package of ethics proposals.

Feeney's Chief of Staff told Roll Call that the trip in question, which was arranged by Jack Abramoff, was a "waste of time":

Jason Roe, chief of staff for Feeney, said that the lawmaker agrees with the finding by the panel and that the trip was something Feeney regrets, noting that Feeney himself wrote to the ethics committee in March 2005 to ask for guidance about it.

“Tom felt, on balance, the trip was a waste of time,” Roe said, adding, “It’s an expensive lesson, but we’re glad it’s behind us.”

Roe added that no one is entirely sure who paid for the trip, whether it was Abramoff or if Abramoff routed money through the nonprofit group that was said to have paid for the trip on forms filed with the House, the National Center for Public Policy Research. That group has denied paying for the trip, as well as other trips arranged by Abramoff, who on several occasions told Members that NCPPR or other nonprofits he was associated with were covering the costs.

This was the last possible day that the current Ethics Committee could have done anything.  The new Congress starts tomorrow with a vow from the Speaker to "drain the swamp."

We're waiting -- and watching.

The Ethics Committee was busy today.   Outgoing Congressman Curt Weldon was advised that he had to repay $23,000 for a trip in January of 2003. The Committee leaders issued this statement:

The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), reviewed a trip taken by Rep. Curt Weldon and a number of his family members in January 2003.   Prior to taking the trip, Rep. Weldon contacted the Committee to seek Committee guidance regarding whether the trip complied with gift rule provisions permitting a Member to accept travel and other benefits resulting from outside activities that are unrelated to official duties.  Committee counsel advised Representative Weldon, through his staff, that he could not rely on that provision of the gift rule.  Representative Weldon then sought a gift rule waiver from the Committee, but withdrew his request prior to receiving a formal written response from the Committee.

While Representative Weldon, through counsel, made a submission to us asserting that he and the trip sponsor concluded that the trip was unrelated to his official duties and was therefore not subject to certain gift rule limitations, we concluded that a number of factors compelled the conclusion that the trip was officially-connected.  As a result, the payment by the trip sponsors for the attendance on the trip of several family members of Representative Weldon was prohibited by the gift rule, which at the time permitted such payment for only the Member’s spouse or child.  We therefore concluded in the middle of this year, and advised Representative Weldon, that he was required to repay to the donors certain expenses of that trip, which exceeded $23,000.

Representative Weldon, through counsel, has stated his intent to make the repayment, and to notify us when the repayment has been made.  We intend to monitor his efforts to repay the expenses and to make further public statements if necessary or appropriate.

Weldon was defeated last November.  He was named one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress last fall in CREW's report Beyond DeLay. 

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that "records" from outgoing Congressman Curt Weldon's (R-PA) office were subpoenaed by the grand jury investigating possible corruption.  Weldon, designated one of the twenty most corrupt members of Congress in CREW's Beyond DeLay, lost his re-election bid in November:

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed congressional records from Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) as part of an escalating Justice Department corruption probe aimed at determining whether Weldon used his influence to win favors for family members, people familiar with the investigation said.

The previously unreported subpoena was issued by a grand jury in Washington before the November election, although it is unclear when Weldon received it.

The first report we've seen of the subpoena was in this article in today's LA Times. 

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at the public relations work Karen Weldon did for a Serbian family.  Coincidentally, her father, Congressman Curt Weldon, was also working on the family's behalf: 

As her father the congressman publicly supported a Serbian family with close ties to war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, lobbyist Karen Weldon in 2003 won a $240,000 contract to help improve the family's image.

Her relationship with the Karic family continued into late 2004, months after the House ethics committee began an investigation of her contracts and the role of her father, Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.), The Inquirer has learned.

A newly obtained State Department cable shows that she tried to help the wife of Serbian tycoon Bogoljub Karic get a visa to visit Florida. The State Department - noting the request came from a congressman's daughter - opposed the visa, citing links to "terrorist activities."

Ms. Weldon's home was recently raided by the FBI as were the offices of one of her other clients, a Russian energy company. 

Curt Weldon is currently under federal investigation to determine if he used his influence to get Russian companies to hire his daughter as a consultant and lobbyist. Today's NY Times examines the relationship Weldon has with an Italian company that coincidentally hired his daughter:

Mr. Weldon’s relationship with the Italians has been mutually beneficial. His daughter Kim, 29, a former social worker, was hired by AgustaWestland, the Finmeccanica subsidiary that won the Marine One contract, shortly after her father’s speech in Portofino. Kim Weldon’s work is to set up booths at trade shows and perform public relations.

AgustaWestland said the timing was coincidental. Ms. Weldon, through a company spokesman, declined to comment.

The company's American employees were major contibutors to Weldon:

More than 10 Americans at Finmeccanica subsidiaries in the United States, along with their spouses, were among the biggest contributors to Mr. Weldon’s campaign in 2006. Their combined donations of $20,400 edged out donations from American giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

And, a subsidiary also hired a close associate of Weldon, Cecelia Grimes, a realtor, as their lobbyist:

A Finmeccanica subsidiary, Oto Melara, whose 76 Super Rapid gun Mr. Weldon has championed, last year hired his close friend Cecelia Grimes, a former real estate agent, and paid her $60,000 as a federal lobbyist. Ms. Grimes has no previous Washington lobbying experience and no Washington office.

We'll continue to monitor these developments. We haven't heard the last of Weldon's daughters or Ms. Grimes.

Roll Call has the latest update from Pennsylvania Congressman Curt Weldon's efforts to blame CREW -- and Melanie Sloan -- for his ethical woes:

It was revealed recently that the FBI is investigating Weldon based on a 2004 Los Angeles Times story, which suggested he used his office to improperly direct business to a firm owned by his daughter and a close business associate, whose homes were raided by the FBI last week in the expanding probe.

Weldon has blamed what he dubbed the “liberal attack group” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and its director Melanie Sloan, for driving the investigation, although there is no evidence to suggest that the group is involved. He also insists that he has a letter from the House ethics committee giving him a clean bill of health, but he has declined to release the letter.

Let's review: No evidence that CREW was involved.  No release of the ethics letter absolving Weldon.  Credible?

Laura Rozen at the American Prospect confirmed the authenticity of e-mails that threatened retaliation against supporters of Curt Weldon's opponent.   CREW released those e-mails last week and asked the Department of Justice to investigate.

The Prospect article also explored the ethical and criminal ramifications of the e-mails:

House ethics guidelines and U.S. criminal code prohibit government officials or their staffs or campaigns from using their official positions for partisan political or campaign purposes, such as obtaining information about a political opponent from employees at executive branch agencies. "If this is in fact going on, it is clearly a violation of congressional ethics rules and not just by Weldon, but also by any public official in the executive branch who participated in the scheme," said Craig Holman, campaign finance and lobbying specialist at the government watchdog group Public Citizen. "It also potentially crosses the line into criminal behavior."....

If true, these latest allegations concerning inquiries to the Navy would constitute a separate potential violation of House ethics standards and possibly criminal statutes, according to specialists in congressional ethics and elections law interviewed. "The general congressional ethics rule guiding this type of behavior is the most broad rule that says members of Congress shall conduct themselves in a matter that reflects favorably on the House," explains Holman. "It is interpreted specifically to mean that members of Congress cannot contact government agencies for political considerations." Holman also pointed to Chapter 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code, section 610, which concerns coercion of political activity, and section 600-601, which prohibits government officials from giving rewards or seeking retribution against federal employees regarding their political activity.