SFederal Aviation Administration employees knew they were involved in a partisan matter when they helped House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other officials search for runaway Democratic Texas legislators in May, the Transportation Department concluded in a report released Friday.

The report said 13 FAA personnel, including air traffic controllers in Fort Worth, participated May 12 in an effort to track a plane belonging to former state House Speaker Pete Laney, D-Hale Center. The report stated that those controllers knew they were looking for a politician involved in a partisan battle.

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According to the report, the FAA's chief congressional liaison officer, David Balloff, worked with DeLay's staff to track down Laney's plane but did not ask the purpose of the inquiry.

Balloff said he was unaware he was getting involved in a politically charged manhunt until he read newspaper reports the next day. He told the inspector general's office that he felt he had been "used" by DeLay's office.

But the report said that Balloff initially was evasive when superiors asked him about his work with DeLay, and didn't detail it until more than a week later.