As expected, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), a former FBI agent who’s been the subject of a long-time criminal investigation, was indicted today.
A federal court on Monday indicted New York Rep. Michael Grimm on 20 counts, mostly of fraud.Grimm — who surrendered to the FBI earlier Monday morning and was taken into custody — faces charges of mail, wire, and health care fraud, as well as perjury and obstruction of official proceeding.
Grimm was released on a $400,000 bond. Pending trial, the congressman is not permitted to travel outside the continental United States and he will have to surrender his passport.
Talking to reporters outside a New York courthouse, Grimm described himself as “a moral man,” who is now the victim of a “political witch hunt.” The congressman has vowed not to resign.
Complicating matters a bit, the New York Republican is facing a lengthy list of charges — including impeding the IRS, conspiracy to defraud the United States, perjury, filing false tax returns, mail fraud, wire fraud, health care fraud, and the hiring of undocumented immigrants — but as Roll Call noted, all of the charges relate to Grimm’s private business ventures that pre-date his election to Congress four years ago.
That’s important because Grimm is also under investigation for alleged campaign-finance irregularities — which may or may not lead to additional charges in the future.
As we discussed on Friday, the New York Times ran a report in February 2012 on allegations the congressman skirted fundraising limits and accepted envelopes with cash in them in 2010, during his first campaign. The Times also documented Grimm’s business partnership with a fellow former FBI agent who was indicted on racketeering and fraud charges.
In July 2012, a federal grand jury was convened after the FBI’s public corruption unit interviewed several Grimm campaign workers. A law enforcement source told the New York Daily News at the time, “Let’s say, so far, it is a tool to get people’s attention – that we are serious about our questions about the congressman.”
And in January, the FBI arrested a Grimm fundraiser on charges that she illegally funneled more than $10,000 into his campaign.
In other words, the GOP congressman has had a “no good, very bad” day, but his troubles aren’t quite over.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."