The American Pundit

Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), the man who ended up replacing Mark Foley during the Democratic sweep in 2006, paid off his former mistress and promised her a job after she threatened to sue him. According to ABC News, Democratic Congressional leaders have been working hard to keep the news from hurting his reelection.

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.

Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said.

A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement, but said Allen resigned of her own accord and “has not received any special payment from campaign funds.”

Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.

Via Hot Air, ABC News has audio of Mahoney firing Allen and Allen not buying his reason for the termination.

Reportedly, Allen then threatened to sue Mahoney for $1 million. She was promising to reveal his dark secrets which would seriously damage his re-election campaign in a red (politically speaking) district. In exchange for promising not to help Mahoney’s opponent, Allen agreed to a settlement of $121,000.

Team Mahoney wants to deceieve his constituency, however. ABC News quotes a campaign spokesperson claiming that Allen resigned on her own accord and in good standing. The audio above contradicts that. As Ed notes, voters may forgive politicians for having an affair. But lying about it is an issue in of itself.