Gregory Meeks

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Gregory Meeks

CREW Files Ethics Complaint Against Gregory Meeks

Megan Carpentier | July 13, 2010, 12:52PM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, under fire for undisclosed loans from friends reportedly used to renovate his house, will now face an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation as well.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Meeks with the Office of Congressional Ethics today based on the NY Daily News reports that Meeks failed to disclose the personal loans and his participation on two non-profit boards.

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Topics: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democrats, Ethics, Gregory Meeks, New York, Office of Congressional Ethics

Dem Rep Meeks Failed To Report $50k In Loans

Justin Elliott | June 21, 2010, 10:57AM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) did not report on his personal financial disclosures over $50,000 in loans from a New York businessman that he used to pay for a large home in the Jamaica section of Queens, the Daily News reports.

Meeks, who has been on TPMmuckraker's radar recently because of a federal probe into his Hurricane Katrina charity, told the News that the loans, for $40,000 in 2007, and $15,000 in 2008, were not reported because of an "oversight."

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Topics: Democrats, Ed Ahmad, Gregory Meeks, New York

Wright Andrews

Master Of Disaster: The Go-To Washington Lobbyist For Financial Predators

Zachary Roth | March 11, 2010, 3:45PM

Wright Andrews

The same Washington lobbyist who led the sub-prime mortgage industry's successful bid to shoot down government efforts to curtail risky lending is now helping pay-day lenders to water down the financial-regulatory reform bill currently before Congress.

Wright Andrews has developed a niche representing some of the least sympathetic and most predatory players in the financial industry. A veteran lawyer-lobbyist and one-time aide to Democratic senator Sam Nunn, Andrews has lobbied extensively of late for a trade association for pay-day lenders -- which offer short-term, high-interest loans to the working poor, often triggering a cycle of debt for their customers. During the last decade, Andrews ran three different trade groups for the sub-prime mortgage industry, whose home loans defaulted in massive numbers to set off the financial crisis.

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Topics: Ameriquest, Barney Frank, Bob Corker, Campaign Contributions, Campaign Finance, Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Financial Crisis, Gregory Meeks, Lisa Andrews, Lobbyists, Pay-Day Lenders, Senate Banking Committee, W. Allan Jones, Wright Andrews

Aqueduct Race Track

Probe Of Deal To Build Queens 'Racino' Ensnares Gov. Paterson And ... Jay-Z?

Justin Elliott | March 4, 2010, 11:27AM

Horses run at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. Inset, from top: Jay-Z, Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Pastor Floyd Flake

Authorities are investigating the winning bid of a politically connected group of investors -- including a prominent rapper and a former congressman -- to transform a Queens horse track into a "racino" amid suspicions that the contract, doled out by Gov. David Paterson, was awarded improperly.

In the long-awaited deal made by the state, a consortium of companies called Aqueduct Entertainment Group will develop the 50-year-old Aqueduct Race Track in Queens into a "racino" with over 4,000 video slot machines, restaurants, a large "entertainment center," and a hotel.

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Topics: Andrew Cuomo, Aqueduct, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, Aqueduct Race Track, Darryl Greene, David Paterson, Empowerment Development Corp., Floyd Flake, Gain Global Investments Network, Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral, Gregory Meeks, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons

Gregory Meeks

U.S. Attorney Subpoenas NY Officials On Rep. Meeks' Non-Profit

Justin Elliott | February 12, 2010, 12:24PM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

Authorities have served subpoenas to New York officials as part of an investigation into a non-profit group co-founded by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), which reportedly cannot account for money it collected to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The focus of the U.S. Attorney's investigation into the Queens-based New Direction Local Development Corporation -- which was founded in Feb. 2001 "by the initiatives of congressman Gregory Meeks and [state] senator Malcolm Smith," according to its Web site -- is not totally clear.

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Topics: Aqueduct Race Track, David Paterson, Floyd Flake, Gregory Meeks, Katrina, Malcolm Smith, New Direction Local Development Corporation, New Yorkers to Assist Hurricane Families

Allen Stanford

Meeks Stays Mum On Ties To Stanford

Zachary Roth | December 30, 2009, 8:44AM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

Faced with a credible news report that they agreed to a request from Allen Stanford to ask Hugo Chavez to file criminal charges against a Venezuelan banker, most politicians would likely want to respond. Either to deny the story, or at least to offer some generic and uncontroversial sentiment like "Congressman X believes Allen Stanford should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law." After all, that's not exactly the kind of story most pols want to leave just hanging out there.

Not Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), though. Over 60 hours after McClatchy reported that Meeks agreed to that request during a 2006 phone call with Stanford, the New York congressman remains mum. His office didn't respond to McClatchy, and his press secretary hasn't returned two voice-mails and email from TPMmuckraker.

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Charles Rangel, David Paterson, Gonzalo Tirado, Gregory Meeks, Hugo Chavez

Allen Stanford

Stanford's Shady Ties To Lawmakers Under Scrutiny

Zachary Roth | December 29, 2009, 2:16PM

Allen Stanford

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether members of Congress did special favors for Allen Stanford, the Texas banker charged with running a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, McClatchy reported Sunday.

So what specifically might DOJ - which hasn't confirmed that the probe is underway -- be looking at?

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Bob Ney, Campaign Contributions, Caribbean Caucus, Gregory Meeks, Inter-American Economic Council, Jack Abramoff, John Sweeney, Pete Sessions, Stanford Financial Group, Tom Feeney

Allen Stanford

Special Delivery: Dem Rep Reportedly Takes Stanford's Message To Chavez

Zachary Roth | December 29, 2009, 9:38AM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

We've already told you about Rep. Pete Sessions's email to Allen Stanford in the wake of charges being filed against the banker for running a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. "I love you and believe in you," wrote the GOP congressman to the alleged fraudster.

But Stanford may have had an even tighter bond with another member. After all, you have to be pretty close with someone to ask them to carry a message to Hugo Chavez on your behalf. Especially when that message is that you want the Venezuelan president to open a criminal investigation into an associate with whom you've fallen out. But according to McClatchy, that's what Stanford asked Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) to do. And, say the news outlet's sources, Meeks agreed.