GOP Rep. Michael Grimm surrendered to the FBI this morning after being indicted on 20 federal charges related to a restaurant he owned before winning a seat in the US House in 2010.
The charges stem from his ownership of a Manhattan health-food restaurant that has ties to an Israeli fundraiser who served as a liaison between Grimm and a mystic, celebrity rabbi whose followers donated more than $500,000 to Grimm’s campaign in 2010. Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, released the 30-page indictment in a strongly worded attack against the former FBI fraud investigator. “Michael Grimm made the choice from going to upholding the law to breaking the law,” Lynch told reporters. “As a former FBI agent, Representative Grimm should understand the motto: fidelity, bravery, and integrity,” FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos said in a statement. “Yet he broke our credo at nearly every turn. In this twenty-count indictment, Representative Grimm lived by a new motto: fraud, perjury, and obstruction.”
Twitchy is very upset that Grimm is being identified as a Republican. Grimm is the only GOP member of the New York City delegation in the House.
RELATED: Grimm made national news earlier this year when he was caught on live television while threatening to throw a NY1 reporter over the balcony at the US Capitol.