Democratic front-runner John Kerry, who claims he is not beholden to
campaign contributors, wrote 28 letters on behalf of a San Diego
defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to illegally funneling cash
to the senator's campaign.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Kerry tried to free up
federal funds for a missile system Parthasarathi "Bob" Majumder was
trying to build for U.S. warplanes.

The letters, sent from 1996 through 1998, went to members of Congress
and Pentagon officials during a period when both Majumder and
employees of his Science and Applied Technology Inc. were donating to
Kerry's campaign, the Times reported. Dwight L. Morris and Associates,
which tracks campaign donations, says Kerry took in about $25,000 from
the contractor and his employees during a three-year period.

The paper reports court documents show Majumder told employees they
needed to make contributions to members of Congress and later
reimbursed his workers with proceeds from government contracts.
Majumder's guilty plea was entered last week.

Nearly all of the $25,000 was reimbursed by Majumder, though federal
prosecutors say there is no evidence Kerry or four congressmen who
also received donations knew of the scheme.

A company in Kerry's state, Millitech, based in Northampton, Mass.,
had teamed up with Science and Applied Technology Inc. to work on
government contracts. The Times reports in the mid-1990s, Kerry
visited the San Diego company, and some employees at Science and
Applied Technology attended a fund-raiser for Kerry.

"It obviously raises questions about whether the campaign
contributions bought action from Kerry," Steven Weiss, communications
director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, told the
paper.