House Ethics Committee Puts The Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm Investigation On Hold-- On Behalf Of The FBI

My sister and her Hate Talk Radio-damaged husband live on Staten Island. Just before the election I asked her if her neighbors care-- or even know-- that their congressman, Michael Grimm, is affiliated with the Gambino Crime Family. She said they do know and it isn't a matter of not caring-- "they admire him for it; that's Staten Island." She didn't vote for him. But her neighbors did. It was a low turnout election in the 11th CD but the Brooklyn part of the district went for Grimm's opponent, Mark Murphy 24,208 (52%)- 22,000 (47%). Staten Island Mafia fans more than made up for it. Grimm drew 72,102 votes (55%) to Murphy's 58,193 (44%). Oddly, Staten Island, which went with McCain in 2008, give Obama a narrow victory this year-- 67,524 (50%) to 66,420 (49%). Notice that Grimm drew more Staten Island votes than either Obama or Romney.

Grimm's first-- and last-- solo meeting with John Boehner is legendary. He walked into the Speaker's office and insisted that Members be allowed to carry concealed guns on the House floor. Boehner was very polite and noncommittal and later instructed his staff to never allow Grimm into the office again. Grimm, who wanted so badly to pack heat, seemed to be in a competition with David Rivera for their entire freshman term, a competition for the most corrupt new Member of Congress. At least Rivera's constituents were smart enough to dump him and replace him with Democrat Joe Garcia. Meanwhile, Grimm is involved with so many strands of corruption and criminal behavior that the Justice Department asked the House Ethics Committee to halt their much narrower investigation of him while they sort through the mess. Here's the letter from the Ethics Committee going along with the request yesterday.

The inside story here is that Grimm was a former FBI agent who went bad and taking him down could be extremely embarrassing-- to put it mildly-- to more than a few high-placed FBI officials.

The committee, voting unanimously this month, said it would investigate allegations that in his first congressional bid in 2010, Grimm broke campaign finance laws by using a system of straw donors and promised an Israeli national help in obtaining a green card in exchange for helping solicit donations from a large New York synagogue.

Federal prosecutors have charged Ofer Biton, the former Grimm fundraiser, with violating immigration laws, but are also probing whether he helped Grimm exceed campaign donation limits and allowed foreign nationals to donate to his campaign. Additionally, investigators are examining whether Grimm, a former undercover FBI agent who retired in 2006, went into business with a restaurateur with ties to organized crime.