Searches Carried Out in Influence Inquiry

Federal agents executed search warrants on Monday at the homes of Representative Curt Weldon’s daughter and a longtime political associate in an investigation into whether Mr. Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican, improperly aided their efforts to obtain lobbying and public relations contracts, law enforcement officials said.

F.B.I. agents searched four homes and other places in the vicinity of Philadelphia and two sites near Jacksonville, Fla. Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the bureau’s Washington office, confirmed the searches but would not say why they were conducted. Affidavits citing reasons for the searches were sealed.

Mr. Weldon’s residence and his Congressional office were not searched, but other law enforcement officials said the lawmaker was the subject of an intensifying corruption inquiry.

Mr. Weldon was first elected to his district, the Seventh, on the outskirts of Philadelphia in 1984 and is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He is in a close re-election race against Joe Sestak, a former three-star admiral and national security aide in the Clinton White House.