Fossella and Ney

Raw Story is reporting that Rep. Fossella attended the The Lodge at Vail event with dozens of lobbyists and four Republican House members, most notably embattled Representative Bob Ney (R-Ohio) who has been closely tied to lobbying efforts by Jack Abramoff.

A nice companion piece from Bloomberg.com detailing the ethical problems of Rep. Fossella participating in these ski outings:

The trips allowed lawmakers to skirt rules barring company lobbyists from directly financing their travel, an issue that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may face before a congressional ethics panel. Instead, companies such as Morgan Stanley and Fannie Mae gave to ``leadership'' political-action committees, which legally paid for gear, lift tickets and drinks for lawmakers.

Rep. Fossella has being visiting the Lodge at Vail for a few years 2003, 2004, and 2005.