Tom Feeney Spotlight

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough

Loosing My Religion by REM

The spotlight shines brighter on Tom Feeney these day.

He indicated a $2,000 trip for him and his wife to West Palm Beach in 2003 was paid for by a lobbying firm - even though that is forbidden by House rules.

More than a year later, after being questioned by reporters, he filed updated records indicating that the conservative Center for the Study of Popular Culture paid for the trip.

He went on a trip to Asia in 2003 that was paid for by a charity registered as a foreign agent, which is against House rules. The Korea-U.S. Exchange Council has said its status may have been a mistake and that lawmakers had been told the trip was proper.

He received $5,000 from former Rep. "Duke" Cunningham's PAC before Cunningham resigned last year amid a bribery scandal.

"My concern about him is that he seems to view the rules are optional," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a group that has primarily criticized Republicans. "Rules are there for a reason."

In September, Feeney was named one of "the 13 most corrupt members of Congress" by Sloan's group. The Congressional Accountability Project demanded that the House ethics panel investigate Feeney and others for their ties to Abramoff.