WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors said in court documents this week that a Republican congressman allegedly working on behalf of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff targeted Sen. Mel Martinez in his influence efforts.
Martinez was secretary of Housing and Urban Development when Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, chairman of a housing subcommittee, met with Martinez in "early 2003" to "influence decisions and actions" for Abramoff's Native American clients, the court papers said.
Martinez quit the HUD post that December to run for a Senate seat. Ken Lundberg, spokesman for Martinez, said the senator did not recall the meeting that is described vaguely in the court documents or any other meeting with Ney.
"The senator has no recollection of any specific meeting" or request, Lundberg said.
Martinez was not mentioned by name in the documents, which were filed in conjunction with the guilty plea on Monday by Neil Volz, a former aide to Ney, to conspiring with Abramoff to corrupt public officials. The court papers said "things of value were corruptly offered and accepted" by Ney, who is referred to in the documents as Representative No. 1.
The papers said Ney merely told Martinez at a meeting in early 2003 that one of his priorities would be Native American housing. They do not mention any specific request by Ney or action by Martinez.
That meeting is among a litany of actions by Volz, Abramoff and Ney in the court papers. The Martinez episode, and another in which Ney agreed to expedite a visa for a family member of one of Abramoff's Russian clients, was meant to show that Ney's efforts reached the highest levels of executive branch agencies.
Ney has denied he did anything wrong.
Lundberg said Martinez would not have found anything unusual about a meeting with Ney on the subject of housing because Ney held the gavel of the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee. Lundberg said Martinez did not recall HUD doing anything noteworthy or out of the ordinary that year in the realm of Native American housing.
Martinez' Senate campaign later received $2,500 in contributions from Ney's political action committee, which Martinez donated to charity in January after outcry about Ney's growing ties to lobbying scandals.
Martinez became the second Florida lawmaker in recent months to be mentioned in a corruption case, although tangentially, underscoring the unpredictable reach of ongoing investigations into
lobbying scandals that have vexed the Republican-led Congress.
Rep. Katherine Harris, a Longboat Key Republican, was connected to defense contractor Mitchell Wade when he admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California and handing out illegal donations to curry favor with Harris and another House member. Wade gave Harris $32,000 in illegal campaign donations and asked her to secure $10 million for a defense project.
Harris sought the earmark about the time one of her aides went to work for Wade, but Congress didn't give the money. Harris has refused to fully explain her relationship with Wade even as it has hurt her campaign to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. She donated the money from Wade to charity.
Florida News 