Rep. Gregory Meeks digs into campaign war chest to pay for attorney in probe
BY BEN LESSER, GREG B. SMITH AND MIKE MCAULIFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Miller for News
Congressman Gregory Meeks is using campaign cash to pay for legal defense.
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Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks is paying for his troubles with campaign cash, handing out $28,500 to lawyers and press advisers dealing with a growing federal probe.
The FBI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney are looking at a secret $40,000 loan Meeks got from a Queens businessman to help pay for his expansive house.
The loan required no interest, had no documentation and wasn't paid back for three and a half years - until right after the FBI began asking questions about it in May.
Meeks also did not reveal the loan's existence on his 2007 and 2008 House financial disclosure forms.
Last month, Meeks used $15,000 of his campaign funds to pay Dorsey & Whitney, the firm of his criminal defense lawyer, former federal prosecutor Michael Bellinger, records show.
In the last six months, Meeks' campaign has also paid out another $13,500 to the public relations firm of George Arzt.
Members of Congress are not supposed to use campaign funds for anything but campaign reasons, although many have spent their contributions on lawyers when they have come under investigation.
Neither Meeks nor Bellinger would answer questions about the payments.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan) has spent $1.7 million on lawyers in ongoing House ethics probes of his finances, including $170,000 in the past three months, records show.
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