Sestak said that he "failed to catch" the connection in the documents.
"I just didn't put the two together," he said. "It was my error."
Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, Sestak's Republican foe in the Nov. 2 general election for the U.S. Senate, has hammered away all week on the funding request, known as an "earmark."
The House in March adopted a rule that earmarks can be made on behalf of nonprofit groups but not for-profit companies.
Toomey's campaign yesterday accused Sestak of funneling "hundreds of thousands of dollars to a corporation through a backroom deal in violation of House rules."
Toomey said that Sestak should submit the issue to the House Ethics Committee for review.
Sestak on Monday said that Devitt never mentioned in his earmark request that he was associated with a for-profit company.
"If now he's saying something else, then he should be held accountable for misrepresenting what he did," Sestak said then.
Devitt in February requested $1 million for the wind-turbine project in the name of the Thomas Paine Foundation. That request said that New Way Energy would manufacture the wind turbine. It didn't say that Devitt runs the company. Sestak pared down the request to $350,000.
Devitt in April asked Sestak for a letter of introduction to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Sestak yesterday said that Devitt wrote that letter using a standard format provided by his congressional office. Devitt submitted the letter to Sestak, who then sent it to the Department of Energy.
The first line says that Sestak is writing to "introduce you to Drew Devitt, the founder and chairman of New Way Energy LLC." The letter also says that Devitt is developing the wind turbine "in conjunction with his nonprofit, the Thomas Paine Foundation."
The $350,000 was never funded by legislation and Sestak yesterday said that he had filed to have the request revoked.
"Under the circumstances that's not surprising, I guess," Devitt said yesterday. "I think it's a legitimate request and something that America should be investing in."
