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Tom Feeney

Former Florida Speaker of the House and U.S. Congressman who, according to sworn testimony by Clint Curtis, allegedly requested the creation of vote-rigging software in October 2000.

FieldDetails
Full NameThomas Joseph Feeney III
BornSeptember 25, 1958
PositionSpeaker, Florida House of Representatives (2000-2002); U.S. Representative, FL-24 (2003-2009)
Legal StatusNo charges related to vote-rigging allegations; lost 2008 re-election amid Abramoff scandal
Evidence RatingDEBATED

Summary​

Thomas Joseph Feeney III is a Florida Republican politician who served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2000-2002) and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida's 24th District (2003-2009). Before entering politics he was an attorney. He was Jeb Bush's running mate for lieutenant governor in 1994.

According to sworn testimony given by computer programmer Clint Curtis on December 13, 2004, Feeney — while serving as both Speaker of the Florida House and as a lobbyist for Yang Enterprises — allegedly asked Curtis in October 2000 to create a prototype computer program that could secretly alter vote tallies on electronic voting machines. Feeney has categorically denied these allegations.

Allegations Against Him​

According to Clint Curtis's sworn testimony:

  • In October 2000, Feeney was present at a meeting at Yang Enterprises in Oviedo, Florida where he allegedly requested the creation of vote-flipping software
  • Curtis testified that Feeney served simultaneously as Speaker of the Florida House and as a lobbyist for Yang Enterprises, which held government contracts with FDOT and NASA
  • Curtis stated Feeney asked if it was possible to create a program that could secretly alter vote tallies on touch-screen voting machines without detection
  • According to Curtis, when he delivered a defensive analysis (how to detect fraud), Li Woan Yang told him the purpose was to "hide the fraud in the source code" because "it's needed to control the vote in South Florida"
  • Curtis testified this occurred in the weeks before the November 2000 presidential election

Defense & Denials​

  • Feeney categorically denied all of Curtis's claims
  • His office stated he had no recollection of the meeting Curtis described
  • Feeney characterized the allegations as fabricated and politically motivated
  • Supporters noted that Curtis later ran for Congress as a Democrat directly against Feeney (2006, 2008, 2010), suggesting potential political motivation
  • No formal investigation substantiated the vote-rigging allegations against Feeney
  • No criminal charges were ever brought related to vote manipulation

While the vote-rigging allegations were never prosecuted, Feeney faced other legal and political difficulties:

  • Abramoff scandal: Feeney accepted a golf trip to Scotland paid for by Jack Abramoff's lobbying network, which became a significant scandal
  • Yang Enterprises convictions: In 2009, Li Woan Yang and her husband were federally convicted of illegal campaign contributions — including contributions made in employees' names to Feeney's campaigns — as well as tax evasion and theft of NASA trade secrets. These convictions confirmed a direct financial relationship between Yang Enterprises and Feeney's political campaigns.
  • Feeney lost his 2008 re-election bid to Democrat Suzanne Kosmas

Key Figures​

  • Clint Curtis — The programmer who made the allegations under oath
  • Li Woan Yang — Owner of Yang Enterprises; later convicted of illegal campaign contributions to Feeney
  • Raymond Lemme — Florida DOT investigator who died while investigating Curtis's claims about Yang Enterprises
  • Clint Curtis — Testified under oath about the alleged vote-rigging request
  • Raymond Lemme — Investigator into the Curtis/Yang allegations who died under disputed circumstances
  • 2020 Antrim County Michigan — Another case involving voting machine integrity

Other Coverage Worth Reading​

  • Clint Curtis: Programmer testified under oath he built a vote-flipping prototype — undetectable without source code.
  • Raymond Lemme: The investigator looking into these very allegations was found dead in Georgia.
  • 2020 Antrim County Michigan: ASOG forensic audit found 68.05% error rate on Dominion machines — adjudication logs deleted.

Related State / County Pages​

  • Florida — Florida election integrity investigation hub (Feeney was Florida Speaker and U.S. Representative for FL-24)
  • FBI — Federal investigation patterns; FBI received complaints about Feeney/Curtis vote-rigging allegations

Sources​

Status: Alive

This information was compiled by Claude AI research.