The state comptroller halted payments to Cassidy & Associates, a firm hired by the state that has ties to Tom DeLay, reports the Houston Chronicle. Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayton began an audit of the firm after the paper reported that the firm, which employs Todd Boulanger, a former partner of disgraced lobbyist Abramoff, paid $7,600 for a reception for Tom DeLay’s ARMPAC within days of receiving its first payment of $15,000 from the state.