Abramoff ‘Slush Fund’ Paid For Feeney’s Scotland Junket
Abramoff ‘Slush Fund’ Paid For Feeney’s Scotland Junket
When Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) first reported his lavish 2003 trip to Scotland with lobbyist Jack Abramoff to Congress, he said that the National Center for Public Policy Research paid for the trip, which the Center later denied. Then, when forced by press reports, Feeney admitted that Abramoff picked up the tab. In January, the House made Feeney pay $5,643 to the U.S Treasury, even though the trip actually cost $20,000.
It was previously unknown exactly how Abramoff paid for the trip, but now it appears that an Abramoff-run foundation, which Senate investigators have described as a ‘slush fund,’ paid for the trip:
Documents obtained by the Sentinel on Thursday from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee show that Abramoff’s personal charity, Capital Athletic Foundation, paid $150,226.32 for a “Scotland fundraiser” in 2003. That information came from a profit and loss statement that gives details of the charitable group’s tax return.
Abramoff also went with then-House Minority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas on a Scotland trip in 2000 and then-Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, in 2002.
The 2003 Scotland trip that included Feeney, Abramoff and six others is the only one that has come to light for that year.
Feeney has declined to answer detailed questions this week about how he determined his $5,643 share of the trip’s expenses.
Feeney’s acts appear strikingly similar to those of imprisoned ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH):
Last year, authorities used misstatements on [disclosure] forms to help prosecute Ney on charges of conspiracy and making false statements. An aide also was charged with conspiracy.
In these cases, authorities focused on a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland that included Ney and his former chief of staff. Prosecutors estimated the cost of that trip, funded by Abramoff and his clients, to exceed $160,000.
But when Ney pleaded guilty, he admitted to lying on his travel form by “substantially” under-reporting the cost of the trip and its purpose. He also lied on his financial forms, according to court records.
Did Feeney under-report the cost of the trip? Check. Did he misrepresent the purpose? Check.
But don’t worry that all this FBI scrutiny will get Rep. Feeney feeling blue. Tonight’s his fourth annual “Feeney Spring Break Bash” fundraiser, in which the embattled Congressman is “looking forward to having a great time.”
UPDATE: Details on Abramoff’s Capital Athletic Foundation:
The Capital Athletic Foundation purported to raise funds for “needy and deserving” sportsmanship programs, but in reality spent “less than 1 percent of its revenue…on sports-related programs for youths.” Instead, Abramoff “repeatedly channeled money from corporate clients into the foundation and spent the overwhelming portion of its money on pet projects having little to do with the advertised sportsmanship programs, including political causes, a short-lived religious school and an overseas golf trip.” Julia Doolittle, the wife of beleaguered Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), was the foundation’s director of community relations.
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18 Responses to “Abramoff ‘Slush Fund’ Paid For Feeney’s Scotland Junket”
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We’re gonna have to build new prisons to hold all these corrupt politicians.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:12 pm“Feeney Spring Break Bash” Do you think the Girls Gone Wild crew will be on hand?
April 27th, 2007 at 1:14 pmHe’s looking forward to dancing with the natives.
-GSD
April 27th, 2007 at 1:15 pmugh
April 27th, 2007 at 1:18 pmBush will deny knowing Tom Feeney.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:21 pmAre they going to change the name to the “Feeney Defense Fund Raiser”?
April 27th, 2007 at 1:22 pmOf course he’ll still have his fundrasier.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pmHe’ll say he ’s not giving up his office he ‘ll run again
and collect campaign contributions and then use them for his deense fund just like Tom Delay did.
So I’ m sure some people wont’ mind paying for his legal defense but this rule/law should be illegal.
Thank you
For when the use of RICO with the whole bunch?
April 27th, 2007 at 1:24 pmTime foir the right-wing shrills to start making excuses.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:35 pmWith each passing day, the scandal-plagued Bush White House and Republican Party more and more resembles a 2000 episode of The Simpsons. During a check up, the nuclear power tycoon Mr. Burns is informed by his doctor that “you are the sickest man in the United States. You have everything.” But the doctor reassures Burns that the news isn’t all bad and that he will survive because “all of your diseases are in perfect balance.”
And so it may be with President Bush and the GOP. In fact, they may be hanging on because of, and not despite, the staggering epidemic of scandals enveloping his administration.
For the analysis, see:
April 27th, 2007 at 1:51 pm“Surviving All Scandals: President Bush as Mr. Burns.”
From Wiki, regarding Abramoff’s “charity:”
In 2001, CAF received $1 million from the Coushatta and $177,415 from Foxcom.
A “Slush fund” that Foxcom contributed to? Did Foxcom know it was an Abramoff drop? Did they get any federal government IT contracts after this contribution? Congress should invite them to testify.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:59 pmThe Capital Athletic Foundation…isn’t that the same b.s. group that hosted on March 26, 2003, a celebrity fundraiser called “Interactive Spy Game Gala” held at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC for the purpose of raising “about $300,000 for the Capital Athletic Foundation.”
“Fox News Channel’s Tony Snow was master of ceremonies, and Fox’s Brit Hume and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews there as well. Opera great Placido Domingo is an event committee member. But, this being Washington, the event was populated by powerful lawmakers, including Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas; Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.”
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ index.php?title=Capital_Athletic_Foundation
April 27th, 2007 at 2:16 pmWhat pisses me off is that this will lead to further regulations for legit non-profits, not further regulations for lobbyists or politicians.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:00 pmWasn’t Feeney a player in the Mark Foley coverup by the Congressional Repugnicants?
April 27th, 2007 at 3:16 pmThat Abramoff has been caught doing what all capitalists dream of is no surprise. Here are a few links which should give you an idea of how many people are worried about this kind of influence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ List_of_Jack_Abramoff-related_organizations
A few more sordid details:
http://www.npr.org/ templates/ story/ story.php?storyId=5048921
Even Ireali journalists are upset by him:
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/25233
A few more interesting items:
http://recoveringliberal.com/?p=434
Now tell me - why wasn’t/isn’t this stuff on the front page of our newspapers? (hint; maybe this goes deeper than we think)
JSM in Phla
April 27th, 2007 at 5:21 pmYou should read how Abramoff brought casino gambling to PA. Every member of the state house received a minimum $5K campaign donation. Oddly enough, the house voted in casino gambling without a floor debate in direct violation of the state constitution. They actually voted on the measure at 2am on a Sunday morning, along with a 30% across the board payraise for themselves. Abramoff only took advantage of the criminal corruption institutionalized in the Republican & Democratic parties on the state and federal levels.
April 27th, 2007 at 6:55 pmi remember feeney from the voting scandal.
Curtis’ story — which first gained notoriety on http://www.bradblog.com and quickly went viral throughout the liberal blogosphere — begins in September or October of 2000, when he was employed as a computer programmer for Yang Enterprises Inc., an Oviedo company that works on contracts for NASA and FDOT. One day, Curtis says, Feeney came into YEI’s office and asked a favor…
….
Curtis says Feeney wanted him to write a software program that could alter election results on electronic voting machines. Curtis, a lifelong Republican, assumed Feeney wanted to pre-emptively head off any Democratic attempts to steal elections. So he wrote the software.
if you check his campaign contributions you find both tidewater, and dci contributions.
Connell was still in touch with the “old school politics” advocates from his past. Along with its Richfield, OH production facility, New Media maintained offices in two strategic locations. One was a Tallahassee, FL address and phone number the company shared with Tidewater Consulting. The other was the Washington, DC headquarters of the DCI Group, the scandal-plagued lobby shop run by GOP operative Thomas J. Synhorst. Just months after Bush’s Florida win, the two would team up formally in Ohio to create DCI/New Media, L.L.C.
this guy has voter scandal written all over him
April 27th, 2007 at 9:06 pmThe 28th Amendment (2009)
SECTION 1. Corporations shall not be considered persons as ratified by the 14th Amendment.
SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
CLOSE THE CORPORATE OPPRESSION LOOPHOLE IN 2008
April 28th, 2007 at 11:50 am