Irony Alert: Mark Foley's Successor Caught Up in Sex Scandal

A charter member of the Most Ethical Congress Ever joins the pantheon of luminaries along with William 'The Refrigerator' Jefferson and Charles Rangel.

Since the media went 24/7 on Mark Foley in 2006, I wonder how much attention his successor paying off a mistress will get?

Probably very little. After all, as we all know, adultery is a resume enhancer for Democrats.

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.

Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said.

A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement, but said Allen resigned of her own accord and "has not received any special payment from campaign funds."

Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.

Of course, Emanuel should be finding a replacement for the guy, but since Emanuel is another Chicago hack, he'll ignore decency and common sense.

The affair between Mahoney and Allen began, according to the current and former staffers, in 2006 when Mahoney was campaigning for Congress against Foley, promising "a world that is safer, more moral."

At the time, Mahoney's campaign ads featured a picture of him with his wife, Terry, with the line, "Restoring America's Values Begins at Home."
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Friends of Allen told ABC News that Allen sought to break off the affair when she learned Mahoney was allegedly involved in other extra-marital relationships at the same time.

Her friends say she told them Mahoney threatened that ending the relationship could cost her the job.

"You work at my pleasure," Congressman Mahoney told Allen on a January 20, 2008 telephone call that was recorded and played for Mahoney staffers. ABC News was provided a copy.

"If you do the job that I think you should do, you get to keep your job. Whenever I don't feel like you're doing your job, then you lose your job," Mahoney can be heard telling Allen.

"And guess what? The only person that matters is guess who? Me. You understand that. That is how life really is. That is how it works," Mahoney says on the call.

Sounds like quite the bully. A perfect Democrat.

Listen here to the bully fire his mistress.

More from The Hill.

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.

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.

Republicans need to wrap this one around the necks of Pelosi and Emanuel. They knew the guy was screwing around and did nothing, just as Republicans took the fall for looking the other way with Foley.

I wonder if the Palm Beach Post is reconsidering their endorsement?

Still more here.

Just to emphasize the hypocrisy, the affair began when he was running against Foley.


Ed Morrissey has some thoughts.

That makes Mahoney’s problems all the worse. Voters might be able to forgive an affair; after all, they did with Bill Clinton. If Mahoney insults their intelligence by denying obvious reality, he may soon find himself with a lot more time to pursue “faith and family,” and might want to see if Mark Foley has any lines open on a private-sector job.

Update: Well, what do you know. A blogger had this story three weeks ago.

Where was the rest of the media since then?