Did Congressman Exchange Sex For Federal Dollars?

The FBI is investigating whether a married Florida congressman who paid a disgruntled mistress $121,000 in hush money also secured millions of taxpayer dollars for a county in his district because he was having a second affair with a high-level official.

A few days ago Tim Mahoney, a Democrat who represents West Palm Beach in the U.S. House, was exposed for paying off the first mistress who he had hired to work on his congressional staff at taxpayer expense. The feds are still looking into whether the lawmaker, who vowed to restore morality after a sex scandal forced his Republican predecessor to resign, misused federal money to pay that woman’s salary.

In a separate probe announced this week, investigators are examining whether Mahoney exchanged sexual favors with a top manager in Martin County because he helped the area secure $3.4 million in federal hurricane damage funds during the secret romance.

Mahoney was elected following the 2006 resignation of Republican Mark Foley, the veteran congressman embroiled in a sex scandal with teenage boys, most of them congressional pages. Foley eventually checked himself into a rehabilitation facility for alcoholism.

Mahoney capitalized on the scandal, running campaign ads featuring a picture of him and his wife with a logo of “Restoring America’s Values Begins at Home.” But during a campaign stop Mahoney was smitten by a 50-year-old single mother (the first mistress). He later created the taxpayer-financed job for his gal pal to work on his congressional staff in Florida. Word of the second affair with the Martin County official broke this week. Mahoney is up for reelection this November.