Mahoney Paid $121k to 'alleged mistress'

Sources are claiming that Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor Mark Foley resigned in disgrace, paid his alleged mistress more than $120,000 in a settlement.

The woman, Patricia Allen who was a former staffer, reportedly received $121,000 in a settlement. A spokesman for Mahoney said that no office funds or campaign funds were used for the payout. Mahoney is married and he also promised Allen a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, according to staffers. A spokesperson for Mahoney refused to answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement but he did say that Allen resigned of her own accord and has not received any payment from campaign funds. According to current and former staffers, the affair between Mahoney and Allen started back in 2006 when Mahoney was campaigning for congress against Foley and he promised a world that would be safer and more moral. Staffers also say that Mahoney first met Allen at a campaign stop and later arranged for her to work as a volunteer on the campaign and Allen also appeared in a Mahoney campaign television commercial, criticizing his opponent. Allen was than hired in 2006 following Mahoney's election, at taxpayers expense, to work on Mahoney's Congressional staff in Florida, at a yearly salary of $36,000. Staffers say that Allen was moved to the campaign staff after complaints about the affair circulated in Washington. Allen's friends told sources that Allen sought to break off the affair when she learned Mahoney was allegedly involved in other extra-marital relationships at the same time. Allen's friends said that she told them that Mahoney threatened that ending the relationship could cost her the job. A January 20, 2008 a tape was played for Mahoney staffers and they heard Mahoney's voice on it talking to Allen and he told her that she worked at his pleasure.