From the Miami Herald: U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic contender for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat, told The Miami Herald editorial board today that he knew his mother was helping developer Dennis Stackhouse try to build a bio-pharmaceutical park in Liberty City — but not that she was a paid consultant.
Meek sought federal funds for the project and said he never knew Stackhouse had paid $90,000 to his mother, former Congresswoman Carrie Meek, and leased her a Cadillac Escalade. Stackhouse never built the project and is charged with stealing $1 million in public and private loans.
Meek addded: “As it relates to my mom, she’s an independent woman…She’s always been a leader in her own right. She’s always had a leased Cadillac, which is interesting because people just assume she’s a financially challenged person, but she has two pensions. She has a private consulting company like many members of Congress have. There was no question for me to say — there was Cadillac 1,2,3,4 — where did Cadillac 5 come from, or where did three come from? I didn’t ask those questions. I didn’t balance her checkbook.