J. Edgar Rove? Bush's Brain Claims He Kept Loyalty File On GOP Rep

Zachary Roth | April 10, 2009, 12:46PM

Did Karl Rove compile a "loyalty file" on former GOP congressman Tom Feeney? That's what Rove himself has reportedly claimed.

Politico reports on a chance encounter at Charlie Palmer's Steak last night between Bush's brain and Jason Roe, a former chief of staff to Feeney, the Florida congressman who was defeated for reelection last fall*.

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove, Tom Feeney

Allen Stanford

Through Obscure Non-Profit, Stanford Wooed Lawmakers

Zachary Roth | February 20, 2009, 6:58PM

By now, we've all seen those pictures of Allen Stanford hobnobbing with lawmakers in Antigua. But, with the exception of one trip by Sen. John Cornyn, it wasn't Stanford himself who picked up the tab for these jaunts -- it was an obscure outfit called the Inter-American Economic Council.

And taking a closer look at the IAEC, and its ties to Stanford, sheds some light on how the Texas billionaire gained access to all those members of Congress -- and what he hoped to gain by doing so.

The IAEC's website says that the Washington-based group was founded in 1999 and that it aims to "provide senior Government Officials, leading Business Executives, and Academic Professionals the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about current and future economic strategies in the Hemisphere." And in 2003, the Associated Press reported (via Nexis) that, according to IAEC president Barry Featherman, the organization "relies mostly on contributions from U.S. corporations."

But the group appears to have remarkably close ties to Stanford himself. In this 2006 report, Bloomberg described Stanford as a "principal backer" of the organization. And Stanford Financial told Bloomberg that it had "donated the use of its aircraft" to the IAEC for one 2006 trip to Jamaica that four Democratic lawmakers went on.

That same year, the IAEC gave Stanford its "Excellence in Leadership" award. A press release put out by the group (since removed from its website) declared that Stanford "has strongly supported the work that the IAEC is doing in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Stanford also appears to have taken advantage of IAEC-funded events by showing up personally to schmooze lawmakers. We already posted these shots of current or former lawmakers including Katherine Harris, Pete Sessions, Tom Feeney, James Clyburn, and John Sweeney chilling with Stanford and Caribbean dignitaries in Antigua in 2005.

But there's also another set of interesting shots from the previous year, showing Stanford breaking bread with, and addressing, lawmakers -- including former GOP congressman Bob Ney (since jailed for taking bribes from Jack Abramoff) -- at an IAEC-sponsored event in Washington.

(You can see the slideshow of photographs from that event here.)

What was Stanford talking to lawmakers about? An IAEC press release from (via Nexis) from the event gives a hint. It says that in his speech, Stanford "addressed the need to streamline regulatory regimes that make it difficult for investors to take advantage of all of the opportunities that exist in the region."

And that same year, Newsday reported (via Nexis) on an IAEC-sponsored trip to Jamaica that included Democratic congressman Gregory Meeks. The IAEC, said the paper, hoped to "ease Patriot Act restrictions on offshore banking," and that according to Meeks, "the trip was an effort by the Inter-American Economic Council to explain the hardships the act has imposed on Caribbean banks."

In other words, Stanford and the IAEC used these events to try to convince lawmakers not to crack down on tax loopholes that work to benefit offshore banking -- exactly the loopholes that allowed Stanford to operate his alleged multi-billion-dollar scam, free from regulatory scrutiny, for so long .

In fact, the IAEC even seems to have used its clout to create a new congressional caucus -- the Caribbean Caucus -- made up of may of the lawmakers who went on the IAEC-backed trips.

After one such trip in 2003, attended by then-Rep. Phil Crane (R-IL), among others, Featherman, the IAEC president, revealed that "Congress is expected to form an informal, bipartisan Caribbean caucus to focus on issues of interest to the region," according to the AP (via Nexis).

The Caribbean Caucus would at various times include, among others, Ney, Meeks, Sweeney, Sessions, Feeney, Charlie Rangel, Mel Watt, Donald Payne, Phil English, Steve Chabot, Donna Christensen, Diane Watson, and Al Wynn, all of whom went to events on IAEC's dime.

Indeed, Stanford seems to have had some sway not only over the IAEC, but over the membership of the Caribbean Caucus itself. That Bloomberg story from 2006 reports that it was Stanford himself who asked Sessions to become a member of the caucus. Sessions seems to have agreed.

The IAEC is staying mum about its relationship to Stanford -- it hasn't returned either of TPMmuckraker's calls over the last few days. And the office of Rep. Payne, who was at one time listed as a co-chair, along with Ney, of the Caribbean Caucus, declined to make anyone available to answer TPMmuckraker's questions.

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Bob Ney, Charles Rangel, Jack Abramoff, John Cornyn, John Sweeney, Katherine Harris, Pete Sessions, Stanford Financial Group, Tom Feeney

Bob Ney

"Caribbean Caucus" Lawmakers Took Trips On Stanford Jets

Zachary Roth | February 17, 2009, 3:03PM

Last May, buried in a long Bloomberg report about Stanford's tussles with Stanford University over his claim to be descended from the school's founder, was this nugget:

Members of the House Caribbean Caucus take annual trips to the region on Stanford's jets. Lawmakers are required to reimburse companies at a first-class commercial rate, which is often a fraction of the actual cost.

The House Caribbean Caucus? We don't mind telling you, we weren't even aware of its existence.

But according to this announcement from the Inter-American Economic Council, which appears to be from circa 2005, it has some pretty interesting co-chairs:

Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caribbean Caucus Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ), Congressman Robert Ney (R-OH), Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL), Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY), Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC), Congressman Phil English (R-PA), Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) Congresswomen Donna Christensen (D-VI), and Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA).

That's something of a rogue's gallery...

Ney, of course, did jail time after pleading guilty to lying about his involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Feeney also was implicated in the Abramoff scandal, and was named one of the "20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" in a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Sweeney also made CREW's list, and went on an Abramoff-funded junket to the Northern Mariana islands with Tony Rudy.

Rangel is currently being investigated by the House ethics committee in connection with, among other issues, unpaid taxes on income from a Caribbean vacation home.

This story just gets more and more interesting...

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Bob Ney, Charles Rangel, John Sweeney, Stanford Financial Group, Tom Feeney

Jack Abramoff

Abramoff Tied GOPer Turns to Former Abramoff Associate for Fundraising

Paul Kiel | November 13, 2007, 12:08PM

Old habits die hard, I guess.

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) is under investigation for his ties to Jack Abramoff, who's still causing plenty of trouble for Republicans, Feeney and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) most of all. A Scottish golf junket with Abramoff in 2003 is the source of Feeney's problems. But even as Feeney tries to put Abramoff far behind him ("There's no relationship") with the help of a legal defense fund, he can't help himself.

Abramoff's old associate Todd Boulanger, The Orlando Sentinel reports, will be co-hosting a $500-a-person fundraiser for Feeney tonight. Boulanger, Abramoff enthusiasts might remember, was among Abramoff's coterie of go-getting young lobbyists at the firm Greenberg Traurig. And Boulanger's go-getting spirit was on full display in an email TPMmuckraker obtained last year, where he urged others in the office to pony up for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), who was a fast friend to the firm's clients (he'd "never said 'no'"). In it, Boulanger allowed that Abramoff's team had already delivered thousands in contributions for Cochran, but that wasn't "good enough for the member who keeps the lights turned on here at Greenberg."

The Sentinel notes that Boulanger, who now works at the lobby shop Cassidy & Associates, represents among other clients Freddie Mac; Feeney sits on the House Financial Services Committee. Boulanger gave Feeney $1,250 in contributions in 2005. Though a number of Boulanger's former colleagues are either in prison or under investigation, Boulanger himself appears never to have been a focus of the investigation.

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Topics: Jack Abramoff, Tom Feeney

Jack Abramoff

Feds Seek Vid of Feeney Statement

Paul Kiel | June 28, 2007, 3:17PM

Federal investigators are continuing on Rep. Tom Feeney's (R-FL) trail. The latest pin to drop -- the FBI has asked Florida Today for a video of an interview with Feeney. During the interview, from September of last year, Feeney minimized his relationship to Jack Abramoff to the vanishing point, saying that "“My office has never done anything for Jack Abramoff” and that "he’s never asked us for anything.” (The St. Petersburg Times later found a possible exception to that.)

“We didn’t have any relationship at all with him other than he gave us a contribution" was the kicker.

Feeney, of course, accompanied Abramoff on one of his infamous golf junkets to Scotland in 2003. Feeney was one among three lawmakers on the trip -- the other two were ex-Reps. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Tom DeLay (R-TX).

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Topics: Jack Abramoff, Tom Feeney

Tom Feeney

Florida Rep Starts Legal Defense Fund

Paul Kiel | June 22, 2007, 1:00PM

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) filed papers with the House of Representatives establishing a legal defense fund earlier this week.

Federal investigators stepped up their probe of Feeney's ties to Jack Abramoff in April. Abramoff brought Feeney along on one of his infamous golf junkets to Scotland, this one in 2003. Feeney was one among three lawmakers on the trip -- the other two were ex-Reps. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Tom DeLay (R-TX).

As Roll Call reported in April, Feeney has made two payments totaling $23,000 to the law firm Patton Boggs for legal counsel to represent him for an ethics committee probe of the trip. The committee ruled in January that the trip was improper and fined Feeney $5,643. It would seem that Feeney needs more help paying to defend himself against possible criminal charges.

Via PoliticalMoneyLine.

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Topics: Tom Feeney

Jack Abramoff

Feeney: Jack Who?

Paul Kiel | April 25, 2007, 9:21AM

Congrats to Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) for issuing the boldest denial of the Jack Abramoff scandal.

A lot of lawmakers have said they never met Abramoff, or they never met him in their office, or when they met him, they didn't like him, or they wouldn't recognize him if they saw him, etc. But Feeney has gone above and beyond:

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) says he is not worried that the Justice Department is looking into his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and is voluntarily cooperating with the investigation....
...Feeney denied having any kind of relationship with Abramoff.

“There’s no relationship,” he said flatly.

Feeney, remember, was one of seven people Abramoff took on a golf junket to Scotland in 2003. He flew over on a private jet. He played golf with Abramoff twice a day there.

Now, even though a sham charity covered the cost of Feeney's trip, Abramoff was not someone who, when it came to lawmakers, was interested in charity. Consider some of the others who joined Abramoff on his junkets: ex-Rep. Bob Ney (jail), Mark Zachares (pled guilty), Neil Volz (pled guilty), David Safavian (convicted), ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (under investigation), etc., etc.

Feeney, no doubt, was not an exception. Here's McClatchy on Abramoff's strenuous efforts to cooperate with prosecutors:

"He's talking so much he doesn't have time to eat," one lawyer involved in the matter quipped, insisting upon anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "Everybody who had business dealings with the guy should be nervous."...
Feeney is among those who might be nervous over the ex-lobbyist's chatter, said the knowledgeable lawyer.

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Topics: Jack Abramoff, Tom Feeney

Tom Feeney

GOPer: Abramoff Junket Was A "Waste of Time"

Paul Kiel | January 3, 2007, 3:10PM

Today, the House ethics committee ordered Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) to repay the cost of a golf junket to Scotland with Jack Abramoff in 2003. Abramoff paid for the trip, for one, but the committee found that Feeney should have been paying for his own golf outing anyway.

Feeney's response?

“Tom felt, on balance, the trip was a waste of time,” [Feeney's chief of staff Jason Roe] said, adding, “It’s an expensive lesson, but we’re glad it’s behind us.”

Well, at least his Scotland junket didn't land him in jail.

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Topics: Tom Feeney