$5,643. That's how much Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) repaid to the US Treasury for his Abramoff-organized golf trip to Scotland. Now let's see...private jet service...luxury hotel rooms...multiple rounds at the world's most prestigious golf courses...fancy meals and drinks...Does $5,643 sound like it would cover all that to you? I guess it's possible, but it sounds awfully unlikely.
In fact, it isn't likely. The actual cost of the trip for Feeney, Mark Zachares, and six others was more than $160,000 - closer to $20,000 per person. Rep. Feeney was just a teensy bit off...
Here are some of my favorite details of this angle of the story:
The $5,643 figure was reported identically by everyone, suggesting coordination with or by Abramoff.
Mass confusion!
Feeney spokeswoman Pepper Pennington would not provide many details Wednesday when asked how Feeney derived the $5,643 figure he listed on his disclosure forms.
At first, she said the figure came from the House ethics committee. But in a January statement, the committee said the number was reported by Feeney.
Later Wednesday, Pennington would not say where Feeney learned the cost of his share of the trip.
Pennington claimed Feeney left the trip early and paid his own way back to the States, and also paid all his own greens fees. If that's so, then why did he claim the same, full amount as everyone else who stayed?
Feeney has long denied knowing that Abramoff paid for the trip, but new documents show that Abramoff's assistant sent Feeney's executive assistant an email with instructions on who to say paid, and at what amount. Also, Zachares has said in court documents that he himself was well-aware that Abramoff was paying and that what they were disclosing to Congress was lies.
Perhaps the Representative from Florida was merely mistaken in his math...
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