Somebody’s Snitching To The Feds For John Sweeney Probe

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There’s no doubt that the federal investigation of former Rep. John Sweeney (R) and his lobbying pal from upstate New York is delving into the time Congressman Kick-Ass spent on the House Appropriations Committee.

And freshly unsealed court papers show the prosecutors have a key informant who’s helping to build their case. Who that is remains unclear.

The new disclosures came after the Albany Times Union convinced a federal judge to unseal documents related to the raid conducted on Powers & Company, the lobbying firm, in June.

Investigators appear to be looking for evidence that Sweeney may have steered federal money toward Powers’ clients or that Powers provided favors for Sweeney’s ex-wife, Gayle Sweeney, who worked for the lobbying office when Sweeney was in the House.

The search warrant affidavits show prosecutors are digging through Sweeney-related records dating back to 2001, when he landed a coveted seat on the appropriations committee. Others from that committee have been targeted in the broader investigation of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was one of Sweeney’s travel buddies at the time.

And the fact the raid was orchestrated through the Department of Justice’s Washington-based Public Integrity Unit rather than the local U.S. Attorney in New York gives a further clue into what the focus might be.

The DOJ didn’t fight release of papers showing what the FBI agents seized. But they did urge the judge to block release of their initial request for the search warrant, which spelled out their justification for the raid — and named their informant.

“Unsealing the affidavit would reveal the identify of a cooperating witness whose help is important to the ongoing investigation,” wrote Public Integrity Unit Chief William Welch II in a letter to the Albany judge.

The federal agents in the raid seized documents and computer equipment with records dating back to January 2001. Specifically, they were looking for “communications in any form” between Powers’ office and Sweeney, his Congressional office or staffers.

The warrants also sought “any thing of value paid to or received by Gayle Sweeney or John Sweeney … (including) gifts, loans, offers of employment, contracts, billings, financial transactions, travel, tickets, souvenirs or photographs of sporting or entertainment events, or dining at restaurants.”

The documents also suggest that prosecutors had previously received materials from Powers & Company and may have suspected some sort of tampering. The agents sought “the author, timing, extent and purpose of modifications of electronic data provided to the FBI on our about March 28, 2008′”.

Also listed among the items seized was a letter from Sweeney to President Bush. What was that doing in Bill Powers’ office?

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