WASHINGTON - Rep. Michele Bachmann has railed loudly against the federal economic stimulus package passed by Congress last winter, labeling it a failure and making the $787 billion legislation a campaign issue.

But that didn't stop Bachmann from quietly trying to steer stimulus money into her district, according to a new report.

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, released a report Monday listing Republicans and conservative Democrats who opposed the stimulus package but nonetheless sought funds for their home districts stemming directly from the bill.

In Minnesota, Republican Reps. Bachmann, Erik Paulsen and John Kline -- who all voted against the bill -- wrote letters requesting money for stimulus-funded projects, according to documents obtained by the center under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

In a statement, Bachmann said she opposes "the so-called stimulus package because it has been a failure" at job creation, has wasted millions of dollars and created a massive debt.

But in one of her letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking funding for the St. Croix River Crossing project, Bachmann touted the jobs the project would create. "MnDOT estimates that the project would directly produce 1,407 new jobs per year while indirectly producing 1,563 a year -- a total of 2,970 jobs each year after the project's completion," she wrote.

Bachmann defended her letters requesting funding. "It is my obligation as a member of Congress to ensure stimulus dollars are spent on the most worthy projects," she said.

Bachmann has been among the most vocal critics of the stimulus, calling it the "failed Pelosi trillion-dollar stimulus" in campaign advertisements.

The Tea Party favorite wrote six letters to the Transportation Department, while Paulsen wrote one.

Bachmann, Kline and Paulsen wrote to the Commerce Department about broadband Internet grants.