John E. Sweeney

In 2016, Sweeney was hired in April 2016 by Donald Trump's campaign to help organize New York during the primary and do compliance work. Trump's overwhelming victory in New York—the real estate mogul won 89 of the Empire State's 95 delegates to the Republican National Convention—put the upstart campaign on the path towards the GOP nomination.

On December 15, 2016, it was reported that Sweeney was appointed to the executive committee on President-Elect Trump's transition team, placing the former congressman at the center of the important personnel decision-making process. Sweeney's good work on the transition team was rewarded with elevation to the exclusive four-member "Tiger Team," a group tasked with conducting interviews with candidates for ambassador posts around the world and high-level positions in federal departments and agencies.

Vanderheyden Hall—which provides residential and community services to youth, adults and families with educational, developmental, behavioral, emotional, special needs or those suffering from abuse or neglect.

Albany Citizens Council on Alcoholism—a not-for-profit corporation committed to high quality in patient and residential treatment as well as education and prevention programming in the Capital District region.

New York State Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Program—provides educational and confidential assistance to lawyers, judges, law students and immediate family members who are affected by substance abuse, stress, depression or other mental health issues.

Hudson Mohawk Recovery Center—operates five New York State licensed alcohol and substance abuse treatment facilities, servicing those suffering from addiction issues.

In 2012, Sweeney worked during the primary season for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign.

Early on the morning of April 5, 2009, Sweeney was pulled over by state police for speeding. He refused a breathalyzer test ordered by the officer, and according to a newspaper report, "Sweeney allegedly told the officers he would not pass the sobriety test, adding he was in 'big trouble.'" He was charged with felony DWI, since Sweeney has had a prior DWI conviction within the past 10 years. On August 14, 2009, a grand jury indicted Sweeney on felony charges and he was sentenced on April 23 to 30 days of jail time.

In 2011, Sweeney told a reporter that he had decided to give up alcohol, and had had his last drink on April 6, 2009.

On July 22, 2007, the Albany Times Union reported that Gaia Sweeney, who was contesting a divorce action by her husband, said that he was often verbally abusive and at times physically abused her during their marriage. She also said that a statement she made on the eve of last fall's election, denying marital abuse, was "coerced". Sweeney denied that he had been abusive; he had recently obtained a judicial order of protection against his wife.

Sweeney was charged with aggravated DWI (driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs) when he was arrested by New York State Police at 1:19 a.m. on November 11, 2007. The arrest occurred on the Adirondack Northway, a stretch of Interstate 87 that runs between Albany and Lacolle, Quebec, Canada. A law enforcement source said Sweeney's car had been swerving and that a 24-year-old woman was seated partially on his lap when spotted by a state trooper. The police reported "he had a woman on his lap when he was pulled over." Sweeney's blood alcohol content registered at .18 percent, more than double the legal limit. Sweeney issued a statement later that day stating: "I regret the occurrence. I deeply apologize to my family and friends. I take full responsibility and I am hoping to work for a fair resolution."

On November 14, 2007, Sweeney pleaded guilty to drunk driving after his attorney vocally and publicly denied he had even been drinking that evening. Sweeney paid a US$1,000 fine, but did not have to spend any time in jail. His license was suspended for six months and had to attend a victim impact panel for drunken drivers.

In 2006, Sweeney was classified as a libertarian conservative by the non-partisan group ontheissues.org. But in 2006, he attempted to distance himself from his record of supporting the Bush Administration, even though he voted in support of the positions of the Christian Coalition 69 percent of the time.

According to EMILY's List, Sweeney has taken more campaign contributions from special interests than any other of New York's 29 Representatives and was also the seventh largest recipient of contributions from lobbyists out of all 435 House representatives in the 2006 election cycle.

In August 2006, Sweeney's allies filed successfully against signatures on Libertarian opponent Eric Sundwall's ballot petitions, resulting in Sundwall's name being removed from the general election ballot. However, Sweeney still lost the general election on November 7, 2006, to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand with 47% of the vote.

In September 2006, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released its second annual report on members of Congress with ethics issues, titled "Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)". Sweeney was one of the 20. The organization said "His ethics issues stem from a ski trip to New York, the exchange of legislative assistance for campaign contributions and the hiring of his wife as a campaign fundraiser."

In January 2006, Sweeney, his wife, and about 60 other people spent a four-day weekend at the facilities, competing against each other in skating, downhill skiing and bobsledding events. The group included Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), a close friend of Sweeney and his wife; and aides to U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Representative Randy Kuhl (R-NY), and Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI). The weekend cost the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) $27,500, plus in-kind services it provided and the costs of operating the Olympic venues for the competition (exact figures for the latter two were unavailable). ORDA is a part of the New York State government.

Documents show that at least eight members of Congress, all Republicans, were also invited to attend the 2006 event but declined.

In April 2006, news outlets reported that Sweeney had attended a party at Union College's Alpha Delta Phi house in Schenectady, was drinking after one o'clock in the morning, and was visibly intoxicated. Sweeney's spokeswoman responded that Sweeney spoke to students for 20 to 30 minutes, posed for photos, and departed, and that he was not drinking during the event.

On October 31, 2006, the Albany Times Union reported that it had obtained a document stating that "[t]he wife of U.S. Rep. John Sweeney called police last December to complain her husband was allegedly 'knocking her around' during a late-night argument at the couple's home." The responding officers filed a domestic incident report. The report states that Sweeney allegedly grabbed his wife "by the neck" and pushed her around the house.

On November 2, 2006, the Albany Times Union reported that on October 31, John and Gaia Sweeney said they would give the New York State Police permission to release a report about the incident. They said that the report was inaccurate but have not disputed its contents. On November 17, 2006, the Times Union reported that there were two versions of the domestic violence report that had been prepared by the State Police, one that was sent to them, doctored and lacking details, and the original report.

The State Police captain who wrongfully leaked the disputed Sweeney domestic violence report was demoted weeks after the November 2006 election.

Sweeney received an "F" on the liberal Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle class issues.

Sweeney spokeswoman Melissa Carlson said the congressman considers his wife "his best representative in the district when he's fund-raising." She said Ford, who had no previous fund-raising experience, receives a 10 percent commission on whatever she raises. Between January 2005 and April 2006, Ford was paid $30,879. Sweeney also has had a fundraising consultant on monthly retainer since June 2004, who is paid $8,583 a month.

In the fall of 2005, the House ethics panel told Sweeney in a letter that he should be careful to let the Olympics groups invite guests to avoid the appearance of an endorsement by the House. "Once the ORDA and the U.S. Olympic Committee — without your involvement — have issued an initial invitation to House members and staff to take part in the trip, you may send a follow-up to that invitation", the ethics panel, known formally as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, wrote to Sweeney.

Seven of the lobbyists had contributed a total of $12,400 to Sweeney's campaign in 2005.

In 2004, he defeated Doris F. Kelly, receiving 66 percent of the vote.

Sweeney was part of a group of lawmakers known as the Caribbean Caucus, sponsored by disgraced financier Allen Stanford. The group, formed to promote relations with Caribbean nations, took 11 trips to places like St. Croix, Montego Bay and Key Biscayne. The meetings, which included receptions with lobster, caviar and wine, were paid for by the Inter-American Economic Council, a non-profit funded by Stanford and totaled $311,307 in costs. Other members of the Caucus included convicted influence peddler Rep. Bob Ney and close Sweeney friend Rep. Pete Sessions. In 2004, Stanford hosted a wedding reception for Sweeney and wife at the Pavilion Restaurant, owned by Stanford. At the time, Sweeney told the Antigua Sun "If it wasn't for Allen, I certainly would not be here today."

On April 11, 2003, Sweeney began paying a company called Creative Consulting for fund-raising. The company had been founded a day earlier by Gaia "Gayle" Ford. Between April 2003 and December 2003, Sweeney's campaign paid $42,570 to the firm. Sweeney proposed to Ford in September 2003 and married her in 2004.

In 2002, he defeated Frank Stoppenbach, getting 73 percent of the vote.

"Is it moving along as expeditiously as we hoped? No," Sweeney told the New York Times on December 30, 2002. "... I think the pressure needs to be constant from Congress. I'm not ready to say that I am absolutely frustrated, but I think the next six months are going to be rather critical."

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, Sweeney and U.S. Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Syracuse) led the effort in the House of Representatives to send $20 billion in emergency federal aid to New York City and both crossed party lines to vote with Democrats on a key funding issue in the Appropriations Committee.

In 2001, Sweeney voted against a bill that would require increasing average fuel efficiency standards and offer incentives for alternative fuel vehicles. (Bill HR 4).

After the Bush-Gore 2000 re-count in Florida, in which Sweeney played a legendary role, Toby Eglund wrote:

In 2000, Sweeney defeated Democrat Kenneth McCallion, receiving 68 percent of the vote.

During the 2000 election, Sweeney allegedly helped earn his nickname from President Bush, "Congressman Kick-Ass," by organizing the so-called Brooks Brothers riot that disrupted the Florida elections commissioners. He was said to have led the charge on the third recount in Miami, flying in GOP operatives and instructing them to "shut it down!" by raising a clamor and pounding on the election commission's doors. Sweeney used the words "thugs" to describe the Florida officials involved in the recount. He defended his actions in connection with the incident as "completely and absolutely legitimate" and declared that his intent was only to stop the canvassing board from withdrawing its activities from public view.

Prior to the 1998 election, Sweeney moved from Cohoes to Speigletown, to run for the seat in the district of Republican Representative Gerald B. H. Solomon who was retiring. Sweeney was born, raised and lived most of his life in Solomon's Congressional District. Solomon endorsed and campaigned for Sweeney, as did every Republican elected official and organization in the district.

Sweeney was elected to the US House in 1998, winning with 55 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Jean Bordewich, despite the fact that President Bill Clinton carried the district over U.S. Senator Bob Dole in 1996 by a 46 percent to 41 percent margin.

The Winter Challenge was started in 1998 by Sweeney's House predecessor, Gerald Solomon, with the declared purpose of showcasing the Olympic facilities at Lake Placid, New York to congressmen and their staffers in hopes of getting federal funds; Sweeney has hosted the annual event since 1999.

As Governor George Pataki's Commissioner of Labor, Sweeney was the point-man on successful efforts to reform the Empire State's Workers' Compensation laws. Before the reforms, enacted in 1996, New York's workers' comp system had long been considered one of the most costly in the nation—57 percent higher than the national average, 53 percent higher than neighboring Massachusetts, 59 percent than neighboring Connecticut and 85 percent higher than neighboring New Jersey.

"Sweeney ... embodies that embarrassment of the Left: the rightward drift of America's white working class males. The son of a shirt factory worker active in the Amalgamated Shirt Cutters Union, and a sometime resident of a housing project, Sweeney grew up in the old, gritty industrial city of Troy, New York. He put himself through law school, and toiled as a minor county bureaucrat until, one day, he was discovered by Republican State Chairman William Powers who made him executive director of the New York state GOP in 1992."

He was the Executive Director & Chief Counsel of the New York Republican Party from 1992 to 1995, a period of tremendous success for the state GOP. During Sweeney's tenure at state Republican headquarters, Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of New York City (the first Republican to win the mayor's office in 28 years) and George Pataki was elected governor (the first Republican to win the Governor's Mansion in 20 years) and Republicans made gains in both houses of the state legislature and at the local level. Sweeney was Governor Pataki's first Commissioner of the State Department of Labor, from 1995 to 1997, then he moved to Governor Pataki's inner-circle staff as Deputy Secretary to the Governor, from 1997 until he resigned to run for Congress.

Sweeney was born in Troy, New York and graduated from Lansingburgh High School in 1973. He received an associate degree from Hudson Valley Community College in 1978 and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice from the Sage College of Albany in 1981. In 1991, he received a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.

John Edward Sweeney (born August 9, 1955) is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York. A Republican, he represented New York's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 1999 to January 2007. He was dubbed "Congressman Kick-Ass" by President George W. Bush for his take-no-prisoners style. Before being defeated for reelection in November 2006 by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, he was considered a strong candidate for statewide office.