Feeney Covered Up True Cost Of Abramoff Junket
Feeney Covered Up True Cost Of Abramoff Junket
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) appears to have filed a false report to Congress when he estimated that a lavish 2003 golfing trip to Scotland with lobbyist Jack Abramoff cost over $5,000, according to court documents released Tuesday. The documents were filed yesterday as part of a guilty plea by Mark Zachares, a former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK).
According to the documents, “Abramoff’s expenses for the luxury trip averaged about $20,000 per person for each of the eight people who went.”
In his plea, Zachares admits that his travel reports were false:
Zachares had said the trip was paid for by a conservative think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research, that it had cost $5,643 and that the purpose was fact finding. All three were lies, according to the documents.
Feeney, 48, an Orlando-area Republican who has been contacted by the FBI as part of the Abramoff investigation, reported precisely the same details in his travel report on the Scotland trip.
Feeney, who is being questioned by the FBI over his relationship to Abramoff, originally told Congress that the National Center for Public Policy Research had paid for his trip, claiming that he only learned later from reporters that Abramoff had paid for it. The House announced in January 2007 that Feeney would pay $5,643 to the U.S. Treasury for allowing the corrupt lobbyist to pay for the trip.
But now Zachares’ revelations raise questions about whether Feeney misled Congress when he said that his trip only cost $5,643 rather than the $20,000 Abramoff actually spent, and if not, whether he should have to pay the full $20,000.
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Uh, sorry Congress, I forgot about the tip I gave the caddy…………
April 25th, 2007 at 5:28 pmbye bye feeney!!!!
April 25th, 2007 at 5:29 pmIt’s an honest mistake. He was using that GOP math like Bush used when figuring out how much the Medicare D reform bill would cost. Where he threatened to fire the expert if he told Congress the real number.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pmClinton, Carter, etc.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pmBut, but, but, Clinton lied…..
April 25th, 2007 at 5:33 pmA fact-finding mission.
Was OJ Simpson there with Feeney to find Nicole’s Real Killers®?
April 25th, 2007 at 5:34 pmAnother Repuke on his way to prison. Good.
The Repukes are a criminal conspiracy. When the Dems take back the White House, the new Attorney General should RICO the GOP.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:38 pmA naive question maybe, but if someone else pays for your trip, how are you supposed to know how much it cost?
April 25th, 2007 at 5:39 pmClinton!
Clinton!
Clinton!
Clin
April 25th, 2007 at 5:40 pmtonnnnnn….
A naive question maybe, but if someone else pays for your trip, how are you supposed to know how much it cost?
Comment by Ted
If you’re an elected representative, you find out how much it costs, to list on your financial disclosure forms, as required by law.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:42 pmHow can we get national referendums to get these f*ckers out of office?
The real dirt doesn’t come out until after the elections. Then by 2008, this will be buried under the next wave of false flag attacks. If the average person behaved this way on the job - they would be escorted out of the building and would not even receive severance pay.
There are a lot of honest people who would consider it an honor to work in Congress. However, the government has become so tainted that only the scum will run for office.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:47 pmAhhh, Good Ol’ Abramoff, the GOP Gift That Just Keeps On Giving
And just like the steady “drip, drip, drip” of investigations and indictments of Abramoff cronies we witnessed before the 2006 elections, so too will the “drip, drip, drip” of GOP investigations and indictments continue leading up to the 2008 elections as well
Yep, between Abramoff and the anchor sinking the USS GOP-AKA President Jr-I’m sure Karl Rove will work the same wonders in 2008 for the GOP that he did in 2006
D’OH!!!
April 25th, 2007 at 5:47 pmIs Feeney the Repuke who got a free pass from Gonzo for 18 months?
One of these Repukes got his investigation put off until after the election.
That is Obstruction of Justice…by the Department of Justice!! LOL!!
April 25th, 2007 at 5:50 pmA naive question maybe, but if someone else pays for your trip, how are you supposed to know how much it cost?
Comment by Ted
Well Ted. I would begin by looking at the travel arrangements (first class, private jet, corporate jet, etc), then move on to hotel accommodations. 5 star hotel? Private suite room? On the 8th fairway of a world class golfcourse? Then I care enough about reporting this ‘gift’ correctly to the appropriate agencies or departments by using a device called mathmatics to accurately add up the ‘fair market’ value of the ‘gifts’. These folks have all been on enough ‘junkets’ to know what the rules and pitfalls are. They also learn - quite early - how to obfuscate the issue, if the need arises.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:50 pmGosh, there are so many repukes crumbling these days you can hardly keep up with it. Conservative ethics are having a big ole’ light put on them for all to see, well, at least us, cause you can bet that the “Liberal (HAHA)” press sure will avoid it, as uncle Rove told them to.
Hating the Repuke Mafia daily
April 25th, 2007 at 5:52 pmThe stench of burning pants must be overwhelming.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:04 pmWow. What a day these people are having.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:13 pmdumb dumb dumb… another one bites the dust….
hey, maybe he was set up like tom delay or scooter libby.
NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED… ITS JUST A DEMOCRATIC WITCHUNT!!
wow…just plain wow
April 25th, 2007 at 6:19 pmFalsification of pertinent evidence by Feeney means “bye-bye” for him.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:22 pmDoes Ted even have a cursory level of sophistication or education? Evidently, not from his inane post above.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:22 pmwow, again, Scottie! Yeparoo - these thugs have brought this on themselves by their level of falsifying critical information - and placing it on a government form may mean a criminal offense. They ARE dropping like flies! Now let’s see what the investigation into Kenneth Blackwell will net in terms of the 2004 Ohio election scam by the GOP and his office, shall we?
April 25th, 2007 at 6:24 pmWonder who will be next in this GOP scandalfest? Katherine Harris has plenty of illegal skeletons in her closet as well as the 2000 election mangling…..besides, she’s bosom buddies with Dukie who’s in the big house right now and her other bunk-buddy Mitch Wade.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:25 pmThe FBI serves at the pleasure of the president.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pmThe democrats definitely don’t need to engage in witch hunt tactics; the Repukes are self-imploding and Dems need do absolutely nothing now except get the ball rolling….or trigger the avalanche, as it were.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pmIs anyone familiar with the fine aroma of burning feces? If so, I believe it’s coming out of the pores of every reichwingnut at this moment.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:27 pmWow I work as a contractor for the second largest employer in the USA, and I’m limited to $25 gifts from vendors and such I work with. Must be rough, they get golf trips to Scottland, I get 16 rounds of Putt Putt, A soda, and candy bar.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:28 pm“Silly me. I’m just a bad bookkeeper. No big deal. Hee hee.” - Tom Feeney
April 25th, 2007 at 6:29 pmWhen you are at the top of the heap, no-one is your boss, so you get to do what you want. Which is the culture of the Bush Admin.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:33 pmHere’s the thing, get those assets back from those crooks and give them back to those tribes that were cheated. better, yet, give the whole country back to The People, no way we could do any worse.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:40 pmIf you’re an elected representative, you find out how much it costs, to list on your financial disclosure forms, as required by law.
Comment by barfly — April 25, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
But even if you’re not elected wouldn’t you have to declare a $25,000 gift on your income tax return?
April 25th, 2007 at 6:42 pmand the most disgusting thing is did you ever see the photo of the collection of nitwits who went on this soiree. fat, pasty-faced middle-aged white men — and all republicans. so you know they were assholes to the club employees.
but why all the subtrefuge. couldn’t the ‘conference’ sponsors submit a proposal to one of abramoff’s foundations requesting funding and then paid for the congressional delegation out of those funds. or is there a limit on what can be spent for this kind of thing. but you always read reports of corporate airplanes at the disposal of members. bottom line — isn’t there a legal way this ‘conference travel’ could have been provided instead of lying. or the lying is just so ingrained in republicans.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:43 pmKatherine Harris has plenty of illegal skeletons in her closet as well as the 2000 election mangling…..besides, she’s bosom buddies with Dukie who’s in the big house right now and her other bunk-buddy Mitch Wade.
Comment by veritas — April 25, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
Oh I hope you’re right! Couldn’t happen to a more worthy traitor.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:46 pm“Zachares had said the trip was paid for by a conservative think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research”
“Feeney, who is being questioned by the FBI over his relationship to Abramoff, originally told Congress that the National Center for Public Policy Research had paid for his trip”
I’d like to know:
…If the National Center for Public Policy knew that their organization was being “USED” for cover?
…If yes, isn’t that aiding and abetting lying to federal officials (a felony)?
…and if that’s the case shouldn’t this “thunk tanked” be sanctioned?
April 25th, 2007 at 7:59 pmBut even if you’re not elected wouldn’t you have to declare a $25,000 gift on your income tax return?
Comment by Shane — April 25, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Well I think any gift from your employer could be taxable, though there may be a low limit like $25 for cash or currency like gift cards, not sure about trips, cars, boats, houses, hookers, drugs, you know all the stuff the GOP has been getting.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:46 pmRe: Comments #21 and #22:
Now let’s see what the investigation into Kenneth Blackwell will net in terms of the 2004 Ohio election scam by the GOP and his office, shall we? . . .Katherine Harris has plenty of illegal skeletons in her closet as well as the 2000 election mangling
Comment by veritas
I can’t wait for those two criminals to get their just desserts, but especially Ken Blackwell. As an African-American who grew up during the modern civil rights movement, I know first hand how difficult it was to get the right to vote and how dangerous it was to actually vote! And for Ken Blackwell to engage in the institutional theft of elections, to engage in systemic disenfranchisement of Ohio voters en masse, to participate in stealing Kerry’s rightful election as POTUS is a bile-enducing bitter pill to swallow. He should be brought to trial for his crimes, right along with Kathleen Harris and Jeb Bush.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:19 pm