Associated Press
We've been keeping an eye on freshman Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican, who's found himself facing all kinds of trouble in advance of his first re-election bid. This week appears to be a good-news/bad-news situation for the conservative lawmaker.
The good news is the Office of Congressional Ethics wrapped up its investigation of Grimm, and said it will not pursue any formal charges. The OCE makes recommendations to the House Ethics Committee, so this appears to be one less thing for Grimm to worry about.
The bad news is, the House ethics panel isn't Grimm's only problem.
A federal Brooklyn grand jury is probing alleged fundraising shenanigans in freshman Congressman Michael Grimm's 2010 campaign, the Daily News has learned.
The FBI's public corruption unit has interviewed at least four campaign workers investigating allegations that Grimm accepted illegal campaign contributions, law enforcement sources said.
At least two of those workers have received subpoenas to testify before a grand jury, but both volunteered to answer questions.
As a rule, when a sitting congressman is facing an investigation from the FBI's public corruption, and subpoenas have been issued as part of a grand jury probe, it's not good news four months before Election Day.
A law enforcement source told the New York Daily News, "Let's say, so far, it is a tool to get people's attention -- that we are serious about our questions about the congressman."
Incidentally, Grimm was a Romney campaign surrogate -- right up until Romney HQ decided that might not be such a good idea.
For those unfamiliar with Grimm's troubles, the New York Times ran a report in February on allegations the congressman skirted fundraising limits and accepted envelopes with cash in them in 2010. The Times also documented Grimm's business partnership with a fellow former FBI agent who was indicted on racketeering and fraud charges.
Leave a Comment:
Did Mr Grimm get campaign finance advice from Gov. Scott Walker?
Office of Congressional Ethics?
I will buy the 'Office' part. The 'Congressional Ethics' part is highly suspect. A more accurate name should be The Office of Congressional Whitewashing.
But then again, we do have Darryl Issa performing ethics investigations, don't we!
How can anyone even contemplate voting for this man ? Romney is lying every time he is seen on Television and every time he is giving print interviews. How can some people not see this ? The chosen ignorance about who this man is -- and the greed and tax fraud he stands for at the cost of the rest of America -- is beyond belief.
In the 2010 election cycle, there was a "scandal" regarding an ethics probe of a sitting congressman.
During this oblique( sorry for not being more specific) period, it came out that the FBI has "Time Frame Rules" regarding the announcement of, and prosecution of sitting office holders.
Does Steve or someone else remember better than I do the incident I am trying to describe, and what the finale "Riule" was regarding these incidents?
thanks
Oh my, the republicans love "probes" so Mr. Grimm may have to change his name to Mr. Smiley.
What's the bigger criminality/ethics breach?
Rep Grimm fudging some reports, taking no-no money, etc... OR... the GOP destroying the American economy via a 30 yr/30x/$30 TRILLION red ink Twin Deficit bender? A charge made by none other than Reagan's own OMB director, David Stockman in his NY Times 7-31-2010 op-ed "Four Deformation of the Apocalypse: How My Republican Party Destroyed the American Economy" (Google it) It was preceded in all important CONTEXT by the unmooring of fiscal, monetary, and trade discipline via "Nixon Shock" on a Sunday, Aug 15th, 1971... and Stockman's overt GOP-shortcoming warnings 30 yrs prior in Dec 1981 with the classic Atantic cover story bombshell "The Education of David Stockman" ... followed up by his 1986 book, the cliffnotes found in the NY Times 5-11-86: "In the Land of the Magic Asterisk".
The whole point of this comment drives back to the point of the THREE NEW OBJECTIVES within the story of HBO's "The Newsroom". Rachel & her TRMS crew are all obviously talented, educated, articulate, knowledgable, etc, etc... but couldn't stitch together the context nor the BIG PICTURE narrative of America's decline at the hands of overt GOP policy if their lives depended upon it. Reagan's own OMB director pretty much lays it all out there at how his own GOP party has destroyed America's economy (but Stockman ommited the very simple & straightforward 30yr costs, 30x Twin Deficit run-up in 30yrs, $30 TRILLION of accumulated Current Account trade deficits and P&I National Debt fiscal & trade accounting since 1981 that has "hollowed-out the American economy" and engaged us in "borrowed prosperity on an EPIC scale", Stockman's own phrases).
$1 Trillion, 1x for our first 205 yrs... VS $30 Trillion, 30x our last 30 years. Both trade and fiscal surpluses FLIPPED into deficits by the GOP... and the American economy destroyed as result. Triple Deficits if you take REGULATIONS into account, or severe lack thereof.
But voters are at the top of the political food chain... so the real finger pointing and accountablity goes to voters voting against their own interests and that of the nation for some 30 to 40 years now, finding value in Republican wedge issues... but with MASSIVE journalistic failings as well at an institutional level across America. Journalists at the time painted "Nixon Shock" as great! Wall Street even shot up! Simply because they were duped by the staging of the actions and short-sighted regarding grave Americian ramifications. Reagan then charted a course to economic hell (after demonizing Carter and his deficits) and put the pedal to the metal with Twin Deficit national credit card spending.
So our first 205 yrs as a nation upto 1981 we accumlated only $1 Trillion in National Debt and STILL had trade surpluses, earning American its prosperity, even after NIXON SHOCK... till the Reagan Revolution came along in 1981, taking office. Reagan's promise of a deficit-free America by 1984 was reversed MASSIVELY, to the tune of 30x what Reagan inherited from Carter's America. Reagan flipped Carter's trade surpluses into 30 straight years of trade deficits to the tune of $8 Trillion in red trade ink and a "hollowed-out American economy" (Stockman's charge) and another $22 Trillion in National Debt P&I costs in just 30 years. $22 Trillion + $8 Trillion = $30 Trillion, or 30x what Reagan inherited ... on a 30 year GOP "starve the beast" bender. Bush Jr later FLIPPED Clinton's fiscal surpluses as far as the eyes could see and TRIPLED the National Debt... all while journalists ever-ignore accumulating Net Interest carrying costs of the National Debt.
Where is that context and BIG PICTURE narrative being told anywhere other than David Stockman? Whistling in the wind now for some 30 & 1/2 years since his Atlantic Monthly 1981 cover story tell-all and overt warnings. Yet Rachel & the TRMS crew continue to fail to connect the BIG PICTURE dots and simply give us mini snap-shots of day to day politics and culture wars. It's obviously not just the TRMS failing to hold the American people accountable. HBO's The Newsroom is absolutely spot-on in their prosecuting of short-sighted, context-free journalists. Not context of "in the moment", but the overall BIG PICTURE of America's unmooring.
While we get plenty of these Grimm stories... WHERE'S THE BIG PIC NARRATIVE and GREATER CRIME STORY??? Why isn't there HBO The Newsroom-like staffers pounding their fist on the table and saying enough-is-enough with the minutia of politics? How about a 106-day-TRMS-bender of nothing but HOW, Where & Why the American voters have been selling their own nation down the river via their votes? What's been happening with trade, debt burden, the economy, income inequality, and 1%ers running off with the vast bulk of America's bounty for the past 30 years? What's really important from now till Nov 6th? Getting America on-track... or small time stories??