FBI said investigating Pa. congressman

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The FBI is looking into whether U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., used his influence to get consulting contracts for his daughter, a report says.

The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted sources to confirm the investigation, which it said is beyond the inquiry stage. The probe is based on a Los Angeles Times investigation, and the story was broken by McClatchy Newspapers.

Weldon's campaign denied the report. The 7th Congressional District incumbent is locked in a tight race for re-election with Democrat Joe Sestak, a retired Navy admiral.

Charles Sexton, a Delaware GOP figure and a business partner of Weldon's daughter, questioned the timing of the story, calling it "awful strange," the Inquirer said.

The Inquirer said a public relations firm founded by Sexton and Karen Weldon obtained a $1 million contract from two Russian energy firms and a Serbian family with ties to the late Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serb president who died during his trial for crimes against humanity.

Weldon lobbied federal officials on behalf of one of the Russian firms, the report said, and also complained to Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser.

The Russian firm, Itera, paid $500,000 to the public relations firm in a contract signed six days after the congressman helped arrange a Library of Congress dinner for Itera's chief executive officer, the Inquirer said.