House launches Mahoney ethics probe

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee say they will question Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., about sexual harassment allegations.

The panel released a statement Friday saying it has launched a broad investigation of Mahoney, a move that came after a news report indicated the Florida congressman had paid $121,000 to a staff member to settle allegations that he fired her because she ended their extramarital affair, The Washington Post reported.

Mahoney, 52, has admitted to the media that he had an affair with former staffer Patricia Allen, 50, as well as with a Palm Beach County, Fla., official for whom he had secured $3.4 million in federal funding for hurricane clean-up efforts.

Mahoney is up for re-election in the same Florida district once represented by Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican who resigned in 2006 after allegations surfaced he had send sexually explicit text messages to teenage U.S. House pages.