Curing Corruption — Whistleblower-Turned-Candidate Fights For Office

TITUSVILLE, Fla. Clint Curtis is sick of political corruption, and he is doing something about it.

The 48-year-old computer programer said he witnessed first-hand the lack of integrity shown by the man he is now running against for Congress in Florida’s District 24.

As an employee of Yang Enterprises, Curtis was ordered to deliver a prototype program that he thought would prevent election fraud in voting machines.

Instead, the owner of product told him the product was to be used to “control the vote in South Florida.”

This admission was a huge blow to Curtis, who had been reared as a Republican in Illinois, because the man who had placed the order for the original product Rep. Tom Feeney was not only a Republican but also the Speaker of the Florida House.

As Rep. Feeney continued to ask for unethical and illegal components from Yang, Curtis had had enough, resigned from the company, and notified the authorities to expose the illegal activity he experienced.

In December 2004, Curtis testified before the House Judiciary Committee over the incident, but Rep. Feeney remained in power, having been cleared of previous charges by a Florida ethics commission that was made up of his appointees. Feeney later became the Representative of U.S. House District 29 and the Deputy Whip of the House.

During this time, Yang Enterprises came under fire again when one of its employees was arrested for sending missile technology to China. Despite admitting to the crime in at least 20 instances, the employee was fined $50 and allowed to keep his security clearance, not jailed nor deported back to the communist country.

Now, running against Feeney for Congress, Curtis has questioned his opponent’s knowledge regarding the illegal activities involving Rep. Mark Foley’s sexual deviant behavior toward congressional pages. Both Feeney and Foley (R-FL-16) were members of the Florida caucus. Foley has since retired from public office.

The Lone Star Iconoclast’s Nathan Diebenow recently spoke with the whistleblower-turned-political candidate about his opponent’s other ties to corruption, his own chances at winning District 24, and Hugh Hefner.

ICONOCLAST: Clint, how can the Washington Post in so many words (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/670/) say you’re going to lose your race, despite the fact that you’re running against a man who is deemed by many as one of the most corrupt congressmen in the country if not the most corrupt since Tom DeLay left office?

CLINT CURTIS: Well, corruption is one thing, but you also have to get the word out. They’re probably basing that on the fact that Feeney has pulled in more money in the state of Florida than any other candidate including the governor, including all the other congressmen. The fact that Feeney is corrupt is why he pulled in so much money. Since his vote is for sale, he sells it at a good price, but it’s hard to overcome that. He raised I think almost $2 million, and