CREW: Grimm should resign immediately

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), indicted Monday on 20 criminal charges, should resign immediately, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said. 

Grimm was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to a Manhattan-based restaurant he owned from 2006–2010.

“Year after year, Rep. Grimm has committed some other reprehensible misdeed. It is about time the criminal justice system caught up with him,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement. “Rep. Grimm should resign immediately.” 

Grimm has been on CREW’s “most corrupt” list since 2011.

{mosads}It’s also ironic, Sloan said, that Grimm is a former FBI agent.

“Former Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) — whose only problem is two families and a drunk driving conviction — looks pretty good in comparison,” Sloan added.

Fossella was arrested for that offense in 2008, a charge that led to the disclosure that he had an affair with an Air Force official. He served out the rest of his term in Congress but didn’t run for reelection. 

Grimm was charged on Monday with mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and perjury and filing false tax returns. 

The 30-page indictment charges Grimm with underreporting income from his restaurant, Healthalicious, in a scheme to avoid paying taxes. Grimm also allegedly employed workers who were illegally in the United States. 

Grimm has already been facing allegations related to his campaign finances. After the State of the Union address in January, he threatened to throw a reporter off of a balcony at the Capitol complex when he was questioned about those allegations.