Last week, we learned that Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) was setting up a legal defense fund.   Today, the Orlando Sentinel takes issue with that move, noting that Rep. Feeney has a lot of his own assets -- and that contributions to a legal defense fund can create obligations for lawmakers.  It's a very strong editorial pointing out problems that seem obvious to everyone except the members involved:

Mr. Feeney spent more than $23,000 from his campaign account on legal expenses in the first quarter of this year. He hired Patton Boggs, one of the top law firms in Washington, D.C.

Then last week, he created a legal-defense fund. The House allows such funds to accept contributions of up to $5,000, more than twice the limit for ordinary campaign contributions.

Campaign contributions can be a way to curry favor with lawmakers, but donations to legal-defense funds take that possibility to the next level. If a lawmaker feels obligated to a contributor who helps him get re-elected, imagine the debt to one who gets him out of a legal jam.

Most people in legal trouble could only dream of persuading others to pick up the tab. Mr. Feeny is not a pauper; he has reported his assets at between $687,000 and $1.6 million. If he hopes to scrub the taint from his trip with Mr. Abramoff, paying his own legal costs would be a good start.