A third DeLay travel controversy

1997 Russia visit reportedly backed by business interests

By R. Jeffrey Smith and James V. Grimaldi

Updated: 4:52 a.m. ET April 6, 2005

WASHINGTON - A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.

DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign.

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