Meeks "partying like a 1 percenter"

From the NY Post:

Gregory Meeks, one of the poorest members of Congress, continues to party like a 1 percenter.

The Queens Democrat scored coveted Super Bowl tickets in February, weeks after living it up in Las Vegas.

The good times were paid for by his campaign and political action committees, which footed the bill for plane fare, hotels, meals and tickets.

He used campaign funds to snag $19,000 worth of Super Bowl ducats, buying them from television networks, ticket brokers and the NFL, according to his recently released campaign filing.

The NFL and networks sell Super Bowl tickets at face value — $800, $900 or $1,200 — to VIPs and pols who may resell them at an inflated price to raise campaign cash.

He paid $3,625 for tickets from the NFL, a price that means he may have bought tickets to a suite at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The ticket buying, while not illegal, has been criticized because politicians are receiving something not available to the public.

Meeks, who has held Super Bowl fund-raisers for the last five years, refused to tell The Post in February whether he would hold one for this year’s Giants-Patriots championship game.

Where was Meeks last night?

From the NY Post:

Rep. Gregory Meeks is a super fan of Super Bowl fund-raising.

The Queens Democrat has thrown pricey parties at the last four games, buying up tickets not available to the general public and selling them to donors willing to shell out big bucks.

And while he uses the gridiron to garner the green for campaign coffers, the embattled congressman keeps his plans super-secret.

Two weeks ago, his fund-raising agency said he was holding a $5,000-a-ticket event this weekend. A few days later it said the Super Bowl party was up in the air.

Meeks’ office, meanwhile, refused to say whether he’s going to Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI between the Giants and New England Patriots.

The lawmaker, who is ranked as one of the poorest members of Congress, likes to venture out on the dime of his campaign and political action committees or take junkets sponsored by corporations and lobbyists.

He holds an annual Las Vegas fund-raiser at a posh hotel, even skipping a 2008 congressional hearing on an auto-industry bailout package in favor of Sin City.

Junkets have taken Meeks from Nigeria to Norway. In October, he and his wife traveled to Turkey for an eight-day excursion sponsored by the Turkey Coalition of America and another group. The trip’s total value was $17,307.

To get to the Super Bowl, all Meeks has to do is pick up the phone.

The NFL said it makes tickets available at face value — $800, $900 or $1,200 — to elected officials but refused to discuss who was buying. Television networks also provide tickets but were mum on purchasers.

Meanwhile, tickets for regular fans were selling on StubHub for $2,000 and up.

As long as the pols or their PACs pay for the tickets, the practice does not violate congressional gift rules, but some say it is ethically troubling because the officials are getting something not available to the public.