Sweeney garnered national attention and controversy for his role in the he 2000 Florida recount where he was a key Bush official and viewed as highly aggressive at scenes at polling places. He was later implicated in dealing with associates of Abramoff and was listed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as one of its “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress.” GHe not only went on trips associated with Abramoff but became his client’s leading cheerleader in Congress to protect sweatshops in the Marianas from federal enforcement. His time in Congress was viewed as one of the most notorious in terms of allegedly corrupt practices. For example, he paid his fiancé and future wife Gayle, $42,570 to do fund-raising, at which she had no previous experience — she received 10% of campaign contributions.
Since his well-deserved defeat in 2006, he has been busy in staying in the news . . . on the criminal blogs.
This arrest occurred at 3:30 am when he was stopped for speeding and then refused to take a sobriety test.
Sweeney pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving offense in November 2007 and lost his license for about three months
By the way, Sweeney is a former STOP-DWI coordinator in Rensselaer County.
Federal investigators are also looking into Sweeney’s dealings with an Albany lobbying firm seeking influence on the House Appropriations Committee in 2001.
Sweeney was also the subject of a 2005 domestic dispute leading to a 911 call. He also achieved notoriety for crashing his car and knocking out all of the power to an entire sky area. On the night of January 23, 2001, around 10:00 p.m., Sweeney lost control of his 2001 Jeep Laredo and hit a utility pole on a rural upstate road . . . stranding skiers aloft on the chairlifts. Sweeney was not charged or ticketed
It now seems that Congressman Kickass seems to be still kicking up a storm.
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