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Highlands Today

Mahoney's Lawyer: Payoff Came From Personal Account

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: October 16, 2008

ABC News is reporting the FBI has begun an investigation into an alleged $121,903 payoff by Palm Beach Gardens Congressman Tim Mahoney.

Other news organizations are reporting a second mistress was the reason why Patricia Allen, 50, of Hobe Sound, broke off her affair with the Democratic congressman.

And Democratic Party operatives are withdrawing their investment in his campaign, now thought to be in serious jeopardy, according to a Washington newspaper.
ABC News broke a story Monday that Mahoney, 52, hired Allen to work on his campaign and congressional staff. When she broke off the affair, he fired her, according to a tape broadcast by ABC.

When Allen sued, he paid her $121,000 to keep her from going public, news organizations are reporting. On Wednesday afternoon, there were 881 stories on the Internet, some from around the world.

Marc Goldberg, a spokesman for the Mahoney campaign, said Wednesday he could not comment. Mahoney has still not directly admitted to or apologized for an affair.

However, Gary Isaacs, Mahoney's attorney, has documented the payments to the Associated Press, in an attempt to quash rumors that the payment was illegal.

On Wednesday, Isaacs showed The Associated Press canceled checks and wire transfers from Mahoney's personal account to him. He also provided documentation that shows the money was then sent to Allen's attorney to resolve the issue.

Mahoney is a wealthy venture capitalist who, on a congressional financial form, disclosed he is worth between $3 million and $12 million. The attorney had documents which showed Mahoney paid $61,093 from his own funds to Allen, $60,000 to her attorney, and $20,000 to his own attorney.

Mahoney appeared before Palm Beach reporters on Tuesday and acknowledged pain he had caused his wife, Terry, and their daughter, Bailey. He took no questions from reporters.

Even so, ABC has interviewed current and former Mahoney staffers who were contacted Tuesday by the FBI. Agents reportedly were seeking legal files surrounding the secret settlement. An FBI spokesperson told ABC she had been instructed to say "no comment" to press inquiries.

Second Mistress

Later Tuesday, after the press conference, a person close to his campaign told the Associated Press that Mahoney also was having an affair with a high-ranking official in Martin County around the same time as his affair with Allen. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to openly discuss Mahoney's private life.

The person said Mahoney was having the relationship with the official in 2007 while he was lobbying the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a $3.4 million reimbursement for Martin County for damage caused by hurricanes in 2004. FEMA approved the money late last year.

Mahoney's congressional staff noted that Mahoney lobbies for FEMA funding throughout his district, and that Martin County has received $43 million from FEMA since 2004. Mahoney didn't take office until 2006.

Democratic Party

According to the Washington newspaper, The Hill, the Democratic Party is cutting ties with Mahoney because the allegations have significantly hurt his reelection prospects.

Before the controversy erupted, Mahoney's party had already pulled resources from his district and decided against purchasing more television advertisements in the final three-weeks of the campaign, The Hill reported.

An unnamed Democratic strategist told The Hill, "When you have a choice between investing in an ethically challenged member in an expensive market and challengers in less expensive media markets, my guess is they'll do the latter."

A Democratic poll had shown Mahoney with a big lead a few weeks ago, but it now appears Tom Rooney could defeat the freshman Democrat and retake the seat for the Republicans. In 2006, after ABC revealed a sex scandal involving inappropriate communications between underage congressional pages and former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-Stuart), Mahoney ran on a campaign to restore moral dignity to the office.

Patrick Hogan, chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Highlands County, said he spoke to a campaign staffer Tuesday, who said Mahoney will be campaigning next week. Hogan doesn't know if the congressman will come here.

The staffer said Mahoney didn't illegally use campaign funds, Hogan said. "Mahoney wants it investigated. If he's guilty, he's guilty. If he's not, he's not."

Jack Richie, who is chairing the Highlands County effort to reelect Mahoney, said he could not comment.

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

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