Markey to give away Madoff contributions

Representative Edward Markey, the Malden Democrat, said he will give away $10,000 as a way of returning campaign contributions he had previously received from Bernard Madoff, the disgraced Wall Street investor accused of fraud, and his wife.

Markey had received $10,000 in contributions from Madoff and his wife in campaign cycles going back to 1992--though none in in the last two campaigns. That makes Markey the third-highest recipient of Madoff money among current members of Congress, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

In an interview Tuesday, Markey said he was outraged by Madoff's alleged fraud and said his campaign would give $10,000 to a Massachusetts charity. Markey said he had met Madoff at least twice but had not seen him in at least a dozen years. Markey said that he first met Madoff when the money manager came to Capitol Hill to testify about electronic trading issues before the House subcommittee on telecommunications and finance, of which Markey was then chairman. Markey said he subsequently met Madoff at fundraiser.

"He was a Democrat and he wanted to support Democrats and he started to support me," Markey said. "We never had any discussion about legislation." Markey said that he has called for tougher regulation of funds like those run by Madoff and said he hopes the scandal will prompt a review of such laws.
(Michael Kranish, Globe Staff)