Rep. Gregory Meeks continues to shell out big bucks for lawyers although he was cleared in an ethics probe.
The lawmaker’s campaign committee, Friends for Gregory Meeks, spent $47,510 on legal fees in 2013, out of $359,103 in expenditures, according to filings.
The money went to four law firms including Wilshire & Grannis in Washington, which includes government investigations among its specialities. Another Washington firm, Perkins Coie, defended Meeks before the House Ethics Committee.
The panel examined $40,000 given to Meeks in 2007 by Edul Ahman, a Queens real-estate broker who later pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud. The committee closed its investigation in December 2012, finding that the “evidence did not establish that the Ahmad loan was an impermissible gift.”
The Queens Democrat said the money was a loan, but could produce no paperwork for it. He paid Ahmad back only after the transaction became public.
Meeks’ Build America PAC also shelled out money for lawyers last year, spending $10,590 on legal fees, documents show.
Meeks remains on an annual list of “Most Corrupt” members of Congress put out by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Meeks has been under scrutiny since 2010 when The Post reported his ties to a questionable Queens charity that purported to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He received a subpoena from the Manhattan US attorney to turn over documents related to the nonprofit.