It's Not Rep. John Sweeney's Fault

Nope, it's the fault of everyone else. In todays WNBZ news:

SWEENEY WON’T TESTIFY IN ORDA EVENT PROBE

Congressman John Sweeney has declined to appear before a state committee investigating a Lake Placid ski weekend staged for members of Congress.

The annual “Congressional Winter Challenge,” intended to lobby members of Congress for aid to maintain Lake Placid's Olympic facilities, is being investigated by an Assembly committee. Subpoenaed documents have shown the event was attended mostly by corporate lobbyists, congressional staffers and officials from the New York Power Authority and their families, none of who make federal spending decisions.

Sweeney, a Republican from Clifton Park, was in charge of the list of invitees, along with the U.S. Olympic Committee, according to testimony last week from ORDA CEO Ted Blazer. The Olympic Regional Development Authority has hosted the annual event since 1998.

The state and national Democratic committees have said Sweeney’s involvement violated House Ethics rules. They called on the Congressman to testify before the committee.

But in a radio interview in Albany on Wednesday, Sweeney denied his Washington office was involved in assembling invitations to the event. “ORDA had their facts wrong,” he said.

ORDA then issued a statement saying the authority stands behind Blazer’s testimony.

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Westchester County Democrat, had invited Sweeney to appear before the committee investigating the matter.

In a Saturday letter addressed to Brodsky, Sweeney declined to appear. His chief of staff Sean O'Neill wrote, “This bipartisan event highlights Lake Placid as both a world-renowned Olympic facility and stresses the need for federal support for this economically challenged region.”

The letter noted that Sweeney stands behind his efforts at the federal level, which the letter said has resulted in millions of dollars for the Lake Placid area.

In an article published in last weeks Adirondack Daily Enterprise Rep. Sweeney was blaming all his woes on Gov. Pataki (I'll have to find the article). In Sweeney's world, nothing is ever his fault.