The Kansas utility Westar, which last year revealed that it had given over $50,000 in hard and soft money to several Congressional Republicans and Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, has announced that it may or may not release its final report on the subject to the public.
When the long-awaited report on Westar Energy Inc.'s 2002 political donations under former CEO David Wittig is released, the company's board might not publicly release it, a company spokeswoman said Monday."Once we do have results, it will be up to the board to decide whether to release them," Karla Olsen said.
Keeping the information secret would be a departure from the board's handling of an earlier investigation that revealed the political donations. In May, the board released a 360-page report and hundreds of pages of exhibits on its Web site.
Olsen said the company's handling of the report from Washington lawyer Timothy Jenkins would be consistent with the handling of the previous report.
"Just as with the report last May, it was up to the board to decide whether to make that public," she said.
Speaking of The Hammer, according to Roll Call, he's attempting to soften his image a bit.
Even before hitting the airwaves, an Armstrong Williams interview with Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is "generating a bit of controversy." DeLay and his wife Christine opened up their home to TV cameras for the first time and they were to focus on a discussion about their "crusade" to help foster children. However, DeLay got "tripped up" in comments he made about absentee fatherhood. DeLay: "A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability. Not that a woman can't provide stability, I am not saying that." Once Christine realized her husband was "treading on dangerous territory," she said "let's edit this out" and told her husband, "this is not a good thing for you to be saying. And you don't mean it anyway." The Rep. added that "it does take a father, though." Christine offered some clarification by noting that she "had the structure there when [DeLay wasn't] there. But ... absolutely, [a] two-parent family is the best."
The show, which will air this week on stations across the country, will also feature a "lighter side" of DeLay. He said he makes coffee for his wife and vacuumed the house before Williams arrived. DeLay also highlights his wife's positive influence on him, saying he'd "probably be in prison today, if it weren't for her".