Curt Weldon Transfers $70K To Legal Defense Fund

Former Rep. Curt Weldon, under investigation by Justice Dept., transferred $70,000 from his campaign account to a legal defense fund, according to a filing on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

The existence of a legal defense fund for Weldon, who was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2006 following disclosure of the DOJ probe, has not previously been reported.

According to the latest filing for the "Weldon Victory Committee," the former lawmaker's campaign committee, it transferred $70,000 to the "Weldon Legal Expense Trust" from Feb. 29 to March 31. Weldon's legal defense fund is based in Philadelphia, Pa.

Weldon has slightly less than $14,000 in cash left in his campaign account at the end of March 2008.

Weldon spent roughly $169,000 from his campaign committee on lawyers during 2007, according to FEC records, plus another $5,000 on a private investigator.

Weldon reported only $120,000 in his campaign account after he was defeated in 2006, but received $158,000 in refunds from a media company early the following year. Of that nearly $280,000 in funds, Weldon has spent more than $244,000 on criminal-defense attorneys.

The former lawmaker spent 20 years in the House before he lost to Democrat Joe Sestak.

Weldon has attracted Justice Dept. scrutiny on several fronts. Following media reports about Weldon's interaction with his daughter's lobbying firm, her house was raided by FBI agents in October 2006, just weeks before the election.

In December 2007, a former Weldon aide pleaded guilty for failing to report "income his wife made for doing work for a nonprofit company tied to Weldon," according to the Associated Press. That ex-Russell James Caso, Jr., is reporredly cooperating with federal investigators in their probe of Weldon.