As Though The Republicans Needed Another Lobbying Scandal

Newsweek: Ohio Rep. Robert Ney personally lobbied the then Secretary of State Colin Powell to relax U.S. sanctions on Iran. Who asked him to? A convicted airplane broker who had just taken the congressman and a top aide on an expense-paid trip to London, NEWSWEEK has learned.

Ney’s lawyer confirmed to NEWSWEEK that federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records on Ney’s February 2003 trip paid for by Nigel Winfield, a thrice-convicted felon who ran a company in Cyprus called FN Aviation.

Bill Haber / AP

Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development, is in talks with House Speaker Dennis Hastert about resigning his chairmanship of the House Administration Committee because he has been linked to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He has denied wrongdoing.