Editorial: Feeney's fund

By Editorial Staff, Florida Today

June 26, 2007

More alarm bells from the FBI probe into Rep. Tom Feeney's relationship with influence-peddling felon Jack Abramoff have gone off with his creation last week of a legal defense fund.

An ex-member of Congress and several congressional aides have already pleaded guilty to crimes in connection with the Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Feeney, an Oviedo Republican whose district includes northern Brevard County, has insisted he broke no laws and is not a target of the FBI investigation.
But he's apparently feeling the heat.

Setting up the fund shows "a strong likelihood there is a criminal investigation into Mr. Feeney's conduct in regard to Mr. Abramoff, and he's going to need a lot of money," says Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Feeney has already spent $61,509 from campaign accounts on legal bills since early 2005, including $23,122 in February and March this year.

He says he'll use the fund to help cover expenses related to his voluntary cooperation with the investigation.

But the truth is he continues to refuse to answer detailed questions about the Abramoff case in public.

That silence, coupled with the legal defense fund, increases suspicion among his constituents that Feeney may have done something wrong.

And it's why he should come forward at once and answer all questions.