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Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) has paid a former mistress more than $120,000 in hush money, according to ABC News.
The report, which cites Mahoney staffers who have been briefed on the settlement, says a former aide, Patricia Allen, was threatening to sue Mahoney after their affair ended.
Two years ago the freshman Democrat replaced disgraced Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who was forced to leave his seat thanks to a sex scandal of his own, that one involving House pages.
In the report, Mahoney’s spokesman did not address the affair specifically but said that Allen resigned and that she “has not received any special payments from campaign funds.”
The ABC report includes a phone call in which two people identified by ABC News as Mahoney and Allen argue about her firing and the real reason behind it. A vulgar and agitated Mahoney insists it is strictly performance-based, while the woman identified as Allen says it is for other reasons.“Let me tell you something else: If I find out that you say anything else, you won’t get your last paycheck,” the man identified as Mahoney says.
When asked what he thinks she might say, he says, “I don’t give a (expletive).”
“You work at my pleasure; do you understand what that means?” he asks, adding later: “You did a (expletive) job, and you’re fired.”
Mahoney spokeswoman Leslie Pollner-Levey, reached early Monday afternoon, declined to comment. ABC also reported that, as part of the settlement, Mahoney arranged for Allen to be employed at Nashville-based political consulting firm Fletcher Rowley Chao Riddle. The CEO of the firm, Bill Fletcher, said he knew of no such arrangement and has “made no payments to any third party.”
And ABC reported that a spokesman for former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) said Emanuel confronted Mahoney in 2007 about a rumor of an affair.
A spokeswoman for Emanuel confirmed the ABC News report, but emphasized that Emanuel did not know the alleged mistress was a staffer or about any payments until reading the report.
“Upon hearing a rumor, Congressman Emanuel confronted Congressman Mahoney, told him he was in public life and had a responsibility to act accordingly and appropriately, and urged him to do so,” the spokeswoman said. “They had no further conversations on this topic.”
Mahoney is involved in one of the toughest reelection campaigns in the country, thanks to the conservative bent of his south-central Florida district.
He defeated state Rep. Joe Negron (R) in 2006, thanks in part to the fact that Foley’s name couldn’t be removed from the ballot. In order to vote for Negron, people had to check Foley. ABC reported that Mahoney’s affair with Allen began during his 2006 campaign.
Mahoney won that race by stressing family values and morals.
An ad run by Mahoney’s campaign stated: "Congress is a mess. Corruption. Waste. Incompetence. Tim Mahoney is a common sense businessman who believes in faith, family and personal responsibility.''
Were Mahoney to decide not to seek reelection, Democrats could be in the same situation as Republicans were two years ago, unable to remove him from the ballot. Foley announced he wouldn’t seek reelection at the end of September.
Mahoney’s 2008 challenger, Republican Tom Rooney, will be holding a press conference with National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) at 9:15 a.m. EST on Tuesday morning. When contacted by The Hill Monday afternoon, Rooney's campaign declined to comment.
-- Mike Soraghan contributed to this report.
This story was updated at 12:57 p.m. |
