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Westar Execs Convicted, What About Westar's Ties to Ashcroft and Delay?

After 7 and a half days of deliberation,

A federal jury this afternoon found former Westar Energy Inc. chairman and chief executive David Wittig guilty of all counts in his trial on charges of looting the utility. The jury convicted his co-defendant, former Westar executive vice president and chief strategic officer Douglas Lake, of all but nine of the 39 counts against the two men.

What ever happened to the investigation that was demanded by groups into Westar's ties to former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Rep. Tom DeLay?

The Boston Globe today recaps the story, and explains how it may "touch" Attorney General John Ashcroft .

"The controversy involving campaign contributions and lobbying practices of Kansas-based Westar Energy Inc. has seeped beyond the four Republican lawmakers cited in initial news accounts. It now touches, even if tangentially, Attorney General John Ashcroft and a gathering of energy company executives at a Virginia resort sponsored by House majority leader Tom DeLay, Republican from Texas."

"....Ashcroft, meanwhile, is being asked by some liberal and Democratic groups to launch an investigation -- either by the Justice Department or a special counsel -- into possible connections between the Westar campaign contributions and legislative action on the energy bill. The groups say Ashcroft should recuse himself from the investigation, because his 2000 Senate campaign received $2,000 from former Westar executive Carl Koupal. Koupal also gave $1,000 to Ashcroft's Spirit of America PAC. Koupal managed two of Ashcroft's campaigns in Missouri and was Ashcroft's director of economic development in the late 1980s, when Ashcroft was Missouri governor."

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    Re: Westar Execs Convicted, What About Westar's Ti (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:47 PM EST
    Where's the theme song from "Dragnet" when you need it?