Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) set up a legal defense fund because of Abramoff-related investigations. Seems one of his major contributors is looking for a federal contract -- and has caused some problems for Feeney before. Melanie Sloan thinks the contribution, while legal, should "raise eyebrows." It did for the Orlando Sentinel:
The fund that U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney set up to help pay his legal bills has received a $5,000 donation from an Oviedo businessman who is hoping for a NASA contract.
And it's the same person, Tyng-Lin Yang, whose relationship with Feeney raised questions when Feeney was Florida House speaker.
Yang is owner of Pyramid Technology, which gave Feeney's legal fund $5,000 right after it opened in June.
The fund was established to offset the legal fees Feeney has incurred since questions were raised about the lawmaker's trip to Scotland with now-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Yang also is president of Yang Enterprises, a software and engineering company whose Web site touts its hope for a "logistics operations contract'' at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Feeney is the top Republican on the House Science space subcommittee.
The $5,000 donation is legal but should "raise eyebrows," said Melanie Sloan of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
"Lawmakers should be careful about accepting contributions any time that person or business has an interest before the lawmaker,'' Sloan said.