Our view: Time for answersPublic deserves a full accounting from Rep. Feeney on FBI's Abramoff probe

[maddezmom]

There are a lot of questions that demand answers -- answers the public isn't getting but has a right to know.

We're talking about Rep. Tom Feeney's refusal to address specifics of the FBI probe into his relationship with influence-peddling felon Jack Abramoff and the widening congressional corruption scandal in his wake.

An investigation that includes the FBI contacting FLORIDA TODAY and requesting a videotape copy of an interview Feeney did with the newspaper's editorial board last year during which he discussed Abramoff.

~snip~

But new information has raised serious questions and requires that he speak openly and candidly now -- not wait, as he said Wednesday, until "after this matter has been resolved."


The most troubling revelation comes from federal court documents in the case of Mark Zachares, a former aid to U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who has pleaded guilty to corruption for his involvement with Abramoff.

Zachares, who was on the same Scotland golf trip as Feeney, has admitted he worked with Abramoff's office to lie about how the trip's cost and who paid for it.

Their cover story?

The trip was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research and cost $5,643.

Which is exactly what Feeney reported and the story to which he's sticking.

more:http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/705030314/1004