Michael
10-18-06, 10:01 PM
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney vacations with convicted influence peddler Jack Abramoff (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=526600)
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney may have violated congressional ethics rules by failing to reveal who paid for a trip he took to a Pacific island with a lobbyist hired by convicted Washington influence peddler Jack Abramoff. In January 2001, Sweeney traveled 8,000 miles to deliver a speech to the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory infamous for its garment sweatshops and prostitution trade. He traveled with Tony Rudy, who had just left the staff of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to work for Abramoff. At the time of his trip, Sweeney had just been named to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which could potentially direct federal funds sought by the commonwealth.
GOP US Rep. John Sweeney travels to sweatshop/prostitute Island to take a look around - with his buddy Tony Rudy - who illegally pays for the trip and works for Abramoff
Abramoff wrote to then-CNMI Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio seeking the renewal of his lucrative lobbying contract with the commonwealth. At the time, Abramoff had switched firms and Tenorio was reportedly concerned about the growing costs of Abramoff's services. The lobbyist was charging the commonwealth $100,000 a month, plus costs and fees. Four days later, on Jan. 8, 2001, the Saipan Tribune reported Sweeney would make a trip to the islands that weekend.
Well people don’t just pay 100K/month + expenses for nothing. They expect a return – hence the Sweeney trip.
"The reputation of the commonwealth is not really what ought to be," Sweeney said. "I come (sic) here and found that the truth projected to me in Washington was not the truth at all." And aid later reply’s "The congressman always believes that firsthand experience is preferable to hearing something from a second source," she said.
So peeny weeeny GOP Rep Sweeney takes an illegally paid vacation and sees everything is just fine.
well that's funny because...
U.S. Rep. George Miller D-Calif., a longtime champion of legislation to change CNMI wage and immigration laws, traveled to the islands in 1998 on a fact-finding mission to document abuses there. Problems were obvious "unless you choose not to look at the facts on the ground," Miller said, adding: "A blind pig could run into the human rights violations and the exploitation of workers on the islands." Miller said he met women "forced into the sex trade, " workers living in barracks behind barbed wire and others who "wanted us to find someone to buy their kidney so they could go home, because they were trapped."
Several months after his trip, on April 6, 2001, Sweeney accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from Abramoff's law firm, Greenberg Traurig. And then sweetened it with $8,850 in campaign aid in 2005 (from the new company called: The Alexander Strategy Group) which closed soon after
..... every penny counts when you’re a crook.
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney may have violated congressional ethics rules by failing to reveal who paid for a trip he took to a Pacific island with a lobbyist hired by convicted Washington influence peddler Jack Abramoff. In January 2001, Sweeney traveled 8,000 miles to deliver a speech to the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory infamous for its garment sweatshops and prostitution trade. He traveled with Tony Rudy, who had just left the staff of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to work for Abramoff. At the time of his trip, Sweeney had just been named to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which could potentially direct federal funds sought by the commonwealth.
GOP US Rep. John Sweeney travels to sweatshop/prostitute Island to take a look around - with his buddy Tony Rudy - who illegally pays for the trip and works for Abramoff
Abramoff wrote to then-CNMI Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio seeking the renewal of his lucrative lobbying contract with the commonwealth. At the time, Abramoff had switched firms and Tenorio was reportedly concerned about the growing costs of Abramoff's services. The lobbyist was charging the commonwealth $100,000 a month, plus costs and fees. Four days later, on Jan. 8, 2001, the Saipan Tribune reported Sweeney would make a trip to the islands that weekend.
Well people don’t just pay 100K/month + expenses for nothing. They expect a return – hence the Sweeney trip.
"The reputation of the commonwealth is not really what ought to be," Sweeney said. "I come (sic) here and found that the truth projected to me in Washington was not the truth at all." And aid later reply’s "The congressman always believes that firsthand experience is preferable to hearing something from a second source," she said.
So peeny weeeny GOP Rep Sweeney takes an illegally paid vacation and sees everything is just fine.
well that's funny because...
U.S. Rep. George Miller D-Calif., a longtime champion of legislation to change CNMI wage and immigration laws, traveled to the islands in 1998 on a fact-finding mission to document abuses there. Problems were obvious "unless you choose not to look at the facts on the ground," Miller said, adding: "A blind pig could run into the human rights violations and the exploitation of workers on the islands." Miller said he met women "forced into the sex trade, " workers living in barracks behind barbed wire and others who "wanted us to find someone to buy their kidney so they could go home, because they were trapped."
Several months after his trip, on April 6, 2001, Sweeney accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from Abramoff's law firm, Greenberg Traurig. And then sweetened it with $8,850 in campaign aid in 2005 (from the new company called: The Alexander Strategy Group) which closed soon after
..... every penny counts when you’re a crook.