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New York Rep. Michael Grimm Pleads Guilty To Federal Charge

New York Rep. Michael Grimm Pleads Guilty To Federal Charge

By Christine Mai-Duc, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Embattled Republican Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of tax evasion, according to federal court records.

Grimm was indicted in April on federal charges including mail fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, employing undocumented workers and perjury in relation to a Manhattan fast-food restaurant he once co-owned and operated.

In a 20-count indictment, federal prosecutors accused Grimm of underreporting his employees’ wages to the Internal Revenue Service, paying them in envelopes full of cash, and said he had lied under oath when he claimed he was not responsible for handling payroll.

Grimm sold his interest in the restaurant before taking office in 2011, according to prosecutors.

The trial was set to begin in February, according to the Associated Press. If convicted, Grimm could have faced a sentence of anywhere from six months for hiring undocumented workers to 20 years for each of the mail and wire fraud charges, prosecutors said.

The Staten Island Republican, a former FBI special agent and Marine, has called himself the victim of a political witch hunt.

Controversy has dogged the congressman, who was just elected to his third term, for years.

Federal prosecutors first began investigating Grimm in a probe of an alleged “donor swapping” scheme designed to skirt individual contribution limits to candidates.

In January, Grimm threatened to throw a New York TV reporter off a balcony and break him in half “like a boy” for asking him about the allegations on camera. Video of the incident quickly went viral, and he was pilloried by pundits and on late-night shows.

Despite the controversy, Grimm won re-election in November.

“I know who I am and I know what I’ve done for this country,” Grimm told reporters after pleading not guilty in April. “I know I’m a moral man, a man of integrity. I also know that I have a lot more service and leadership to provide this country, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

But Tuesday’s guilty plea renewed questions about his future in Congress, as Democratic leaders called for his ouster.

In a statement released Tuesday ahead of Grimm’s plea, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released a statement calling on House Speaker John Boehner to “insist that Congressman Grimm resign immediately.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also called for Grimm’s resignation. “It’s past time for Michael Grimm to go and it’s John Boehner’s responsibility to make it happen,” said Josh Schwerin, a DCCC spokesman, in a statement. Schwerin said allowing Grimm to stay in Congress despite his guilt “is a disservice to the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn and a stain on the institution of the United States House of Representatives.”

Boehner’s office had no immediate comment.

“We won’t have any announcements until the speaker discusses the matter with Mr. Grimm,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.

Grimm has previously that if he was convicted, he would step down from Congress. “Certainly, if I was not able to serve, then of course I would step aside,” he said at a debate in October, according to the Associated Press.
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(Staff writers Michael Memoli and Richard Serrano contributed to this report.)

AFP Photo/Alex Wong

This story has been updated.

Endorse This: Hillary Clinton Speaks On Ferguson And New York

Endorse This: Hillary Clinton Speaks On Ferguson And New York

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Hillary Clinton is responding to the controversies surrounding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, saying at event Thursday in Boston, “Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America,” and more.

Click above to watch — then share this video.

Video viaThe Washington Post.

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Mourners Demand Justice For NY Man Choked By Police

Mourners Demand Justice For NY Man Choked By Police

New York (AFP) — Civil rights activist Al Sharpton led hundreds of mourners in demands for justice at the funeral for a black father of six who died after being choked by New York police.

Eric Garner, 43, suffered a fatal heart attack on July 17 after being tackled by white officers for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes on Staten Island, a borough of New York City.

In a video captured by a local resident, whom Sharpton invited onto the podium, Garner cries out repeatedly that he cannot breathe as an officer grips him in a chokehold.

Garner, wearing shorts and unarmed, is shown arguing with two officers before one grabs him round the neck, wrestles him to the ground and another presses down his face.

Three other uniformed police officers are also shown arriving to help subdue Garner on the video.

“When you can in broad daylight choke one of God’s children, God expects us to stand up and demand justice,” Sharpton told the packed Bethel Baptist Church.

“The choke hold is illegal but even if you lost your training memory, a man in your arms saying ‘I can’t breathe’? When does your decency kick in? When does your morality kick in?” demanded Sharpton, also a minister and lately a news broadcaster.

Sharpton called for the two officers to be prosecuted and for a federal investigation in an emotional speech that was greeted by a standing ovation and loud cheers from the congregation, including Garner’s closest relatives.

“We’re going to demand justice,” said Sharpton. “Don’t bow down, we’ve got to win,” he said.

Friends, relatives, clergy, activists from Sharpton’s National Action Network, and a handful of black city council officers crowded into the church for the funeral, fighting off the sticky summer heat with hand-held fans.

Relatives prostrated themselves in grief over Garner’s open coffin before the lid was closed at the start of the service, a wreath of yellow and white flowers on top.

Public advocate Letitia James said the city would demand justice for Garner’s death, promising a full investigation of all chokeholds and complaints against police.

The case spotlights not only racial tensions in highly diverse New York City but has sharpened calls for police reform under New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio, who took office in January, is currently on a family vacation in Italy.

The district attorney’s office is leading a criminal investigation and both police officers have been assigned to desk duty pending the investigation, police said.

New York police chief Bill Bratton has also ordered all city officers to be retrained in the use of force.

Chokeholds are illegal because of concerns over potential deaths.

AFP Photo/Julia Xanthos

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WATCH: Rep. Grimm Threatens To Throw Reporter Off Balcony After Scandal Question

WATCH: Rep. Grimm Threatens To Throw Reporter Off Balcony After Scandal Question

Among all of the Republican Party’s many responses to President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address, none was more startling — or less helpful — than that of Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY).

Grimm, a second-term congressman representing Staten Island, was discussing the president’s speech on camera with NY1’s Michael Scotto, when Scotto attempted to ask Grimm about the alleged campaign finance violations that have clouded his time in office. Grimm pointedly refused, saying “I’m not speaking to you off topic, this is only about the president,” then walked off camera.

But just a few moments later, things got heated when Grimm returned to confront the reporter:

“Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this f—–g balcony,” Grimm told Scotto.

When Scotto told Grimm that he had asked a “valid question,” Grimm shot back, “No, no, you’re not man enough, you’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”

Video of the confrontation went viral almost immediately, prompting a response from Grimm. But instead of apologizing, the Staten Island congressman released the following statement

I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.

That Grimm would chastise Scotto for being disrespectful shortly after mocking the reporter for not being “man enough” and threatening to toss him off of a balcony may seem odd, but Grimm — who has previously earned headlines for swimming in the Sea of Galilee with some fellow House Republicans (at least one of whom was nude) and for allegedly having sex in the bathroom of a Brooklyn wine bar — has never been known for his tact.

This is not the first time that questions have been raised about Congressman Grimm’s temper. In 1999, Grimm — then an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation — reportedly brandished a gun at a New York nightclub in response to an altercation over a woman.

The latest incident is unlikely to help his already tenuous re-election hopes. Grimm, who is the only Republican representing New York City in Congress, has long been considered a top target for Democrats in 2014. His seemingly unending series of controversies reportedly has some Republicans considering other options (including Grimm’s equally scandal-ridden predecessor, Vito Fossella).

UPDATE: On Wednesday morning, Grimm relented and offered an apology to Scotto, which the reporter accepted according to NY1.

“”I was wrong. I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me and lose my cool. I have apologized to Michael Scotto, which he graciously accepted, and will be scheduling a lunch soon,” Grimm said in a written statement. “In the weeks and months ahead I’ll be working hard for my constituents on issues like flood insurance that is so desperately needed in my district post Sandy.”

Photo: House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans via Flickr

H/t: NY1