Grimm in 2010: Tax cheating ‘unforgivable’

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that he won’t resign after pleading guilty to tax fraud. But, back in 2010, he bashed a colleague who was peripherally involved in a tax-related ethics scandal.

While running for Congress in 2010, Grimm lambasted incumbent Rep. Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.) for accepting campaign donations from Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). At the time, the House Ethics Committee said that Rangel violated House rules by taking sponsored trips to the Caribbean. The House later censured Rangel for a slew of other ethical breaches, including tax violations.

{mosads}Grimm called on McMahon to “stand up and do what is right” by returning more than $55,000 of donations from Rangel.

“At best Mr. Rangel has proven himself to be incompetent of administrating the tax code and at worse, he was cheating on his taxes.  Either way his actions are unforgivable,” Grimm’s press release said.  

“It is time for Mike McMahon to reject Washington’s business-as-usual ignorance of ethical failings.”

The embattled congressman spoke outside the federal courthouse in Brooklyn Tuesday, where he told reporters that he would not resign. Representatives from the office of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Hill that he plans to speak with Grimm to discuss whether he should step down.

Another 2010 press release from Grimm asked McMahon to join him in a call for Rangel to step down as House Ways and Means chairman. 

“Americans deserve better from their elected officials,” he said in his 2010 press release.

“Ethics are not a political issue; either you have them or you don’t.”