Feeney Responds to Kosmas Campaign Questions - Will Kosmas Respond to Feeney?

Feeney Responds to Kosmas Campaign Questions
Will Kosmas Respond to Feeney?

Washington, DC -- In response to Rep. Feeney's advertisement explaining his trip to Scotland in 2003, Suzanne Kosmas's campaign issued a list of questions to Rep. Feeney. This ad is consistent with Tom Feeney's straightforward responses to questions from reporters, editorial boards and most importantly, his constituents about this 5-year old trip to Scotland. In fact, had the Kosmas campaign bothered to do a Google search, they could have found the answers on their own.

When was the last time Tom Feeney spoke with the FBI? Is he cooperating with the FBI's investigation?
Rep. Feeney and his office have voluntarily cooperated with this investigation and provided extensive materials, documents and email records, roughly two years ago.

Can Feeney assure voters that their Congressman will not be indicted?
Rep. Feeney cooperated and voluntarily provided information requested by investigators. While Tom has always said that he wishes in retrospect that he'd never been on that trip, the facts prove that Tom acted in accordance with the law.

Have Tom Feeney's office records been subpoenaed?
No. Rep. Feeney’s office has voluntarily cooperated and voluntarily turned over retained documents to investigators.

Why did it take Tom Feeney five years to admit a mistake?
Again, the Kosmas campaign needs to learn how to Google. Tom Feeney has been straightforward in discussing his 2003 trip to Scotland with his constituents, reporters, and editorial boards. Throughout his career, Tom has consistently fought for Central Floridians and delivered results for our community. This 5-year old story has been an expensive and embarrassing lesson for Tom but he has continued to be Central Florida's fighting voice in Congress for lower energy prices, eliminating illegal immigration, curbing irresponsible pork spending, and advocacy for NASA.

Tom immediately and proactively requested an opinion from the House Ethics Committee after learning that there were discrepancies regarding the trip and trip sponsor.

Why did Tom Feeney vote to block a congressional ethics investigation?
Tom Feeney immediately notified the House Ethics Committee upon learning that the organization that he was informed paid for the trip, had not. He asked the Committee what steps he should take to correct the matter. After contacting the Ethics Committee Tom personally reimbursed the cost of the trip.

Why did Tom Feeney claim he did nothing on behalf of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff when official records tell another story?
We are unaware of any actions that Rep. Feeney's office took at the request of Jack Abramoff. Like all Members of Congress, as a part of his official job duties, Tom has cosponsored hundreds of bills and signed hundreds of letters in support or in opposition of legislation that he believes are consistent with the interests of his constituents and the American people. Tom will tell you without any hesitation that during his 17 years of public service, he has always followed the law and in no way traded legislative favors for personal gain.

Why did Tom Feeney only pay back around $5,000 for the trip when court documents have shown the actual cost was closer to $20,000?
As soon as Tom learned that there was concern about the trip and the trip sponsor, he proactively requested an opinion from the House Ethics Committee on how to proceed to ensure that all legal and ethical steps were taken. He immediately followed their direction, and wrote a personal check to the U.S. Treasury for the amount reported to the office, as is standard practice. Ethics Committee Statement HERE: http://ethics.house.gov/News/Read.aspx?ID=99

"If public service really is about honesty for Tom Feeney, then he owes Floridians much more than just a thirty second explanation. They deserve the full story."
Rep. Feeney has been forthcoming about this situation from the day he discovered the problems. Further, for years, he has answered questions the House Ethics Committee, editorial boards, media interviews and constituents. If the Kosmas campaign needs more information on the trip, they can visit Rep. Feeney's campaign website www.tomfeeney.com where a fuller explanation of the trip has been posted.

Tom has set an example for how he believes Americans expect their elected officials to respond in situations like this. Now that he has responded to the Kosmas campaign's list of questions, we'd request that they respond to our questions:

The Feeney Campaign demands that Ms. Kosmas follow the Feeney Example and show the same type of transparency on her shady art deal and turn herself in for a review by the Florida Ethics Commission for her alleged abuse of power.

The one time Kosmas had any budgetary authority, as a board member on the selection committee of the Volusia County Cultural Arts Advisory Board, she recommended that the county buy a sculpture for $25,300 when the budget was set at $12,000. She doubled the cost to taxpayers. Later, it was discovered that the artist contributed $1,000 to Kosmas' campaign. This raises very serious ethical questions about the relationship between the contribution to Kosmas and her decision to exceed her spending authority by over 100% to benefit one of her donors.

She must now follow the Feeney Example and immediately request a review and investigation by the Florida Ethics Commission of the legality of her actions on behalf of a political contributor.

If Kosmas cannot be trusted with a $12,000 taxpayer budget, how can she be trusted with a $3 trillion taxpayer budget?

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