Oct 15, 2008 12:39 pm US/Eastern
Reports Surface Of Second Mahoney Affair
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) ―
Less than 24 hours after a U.S. Representative Tim Mahoney addressed allegations that he paid a former mistress hush money to keep her quiet reports of a second affair surfaced.
Speaking with the media Tuesday morning Mahoney, 52, did not directly address the allegations of adultery first reported by ABC News, but did apologize to his family and say that he had done nothing illegal. In the ABC report Mahoney allegedly began his affair with Patricia Allen in 2006 while he was campaigning for Congress. When the tryst ended, Mahoney reportedly paid Allen $121-thousand to keep her quiet and avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit.
During the news conference, Mahoney issued a statement taking "full responsibility for my actions and the pain I have caused my wife Terry and my daughter, Bailey."
"No marriage is perfect," Mahoney said, "but our private life is our private life."
He added that he never misused campaign money and was confident that an ethics investigation that he called for would clear him of any wrongdoing.
Later that day a person close to the congressman's re-election campaign told The Associated Press that Mahoney also had an affair with a second woman around the same time. The unnamed source said the woman in question was a high-ranking official in Martin County. While having the alleged affair, the source said Mahoney was also lobbying the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a $3.4 million reimbursement for Martin County for damage caused by hurricanes in 2004. FEMA approved the money late last year.
In 2006, Mahoney won his seat after former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley who stepped down after it was revealed he sent lurid Internet messages to male teenage pages. Foley was later cleared of criminal wrongdoing by state and federal authorities.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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