Rep. Alan Grayson targeted by second ethics complaint

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Politico

TALLAHASSEE — Rep. Alan Grayson has been targeted by a second ethics complaint in as many days over his involvement in three hedge funds that use his name and include undisclosed investors, this time by a supporter of a Democratic rival.

A 16-page complaint filed Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleges, among other things, that the Orlando Democrat violated a handful of ethics rules by failing to disclose potential income from the funds, and by using his name to boost their earning power.

The complaint was filed by St. Lucie County Democratic Chairwoman Celeste Bush, who is a supporter of Rep. Patrick Murphy’s U.S. Senate bid. St. Lucie County is in the congressional district represented by Murphy, who is widely expected to face Grayson in a Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by Marco Rubio, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president.

POLITICO Florida reported last month that Grayson’s involvement in the hedge funds skirts congressional ethics rules. At that time, Grayson said those rules do not apply because he has no “fiduciary responsibility” over the funds, an explanation legal and business experts refuted.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/rep-alan-grayson-targeted-by-second-ethics-complaint-119795.html

[7962]

1. Been saying for years this guy is a dirtbag.

But no, he calls republicans bad names so he's a hero

[24601]

12. If he's dirty, get the hell out of the party and public life. There are sufficient clean folks with

progressive positions, that we don't need the crooks. Defending just one undercuts the ethics-based arguments when it comes to elections.

[7962]

13. Exactly. No different than any other candidate.

I know this goes a bit off topic, but I compare it to Sanders and Hillary. If you're REALLY honest about things, Hillary has enough skeletons to fill a Trump mansion, but everyone still falls all over her to be the nominee. I think its mostly just to see a woman elected. But Where are the skeletons in Sanders closet? Even those on the right can only talk about him being "Socialist".
There are too many people here that excuse stuff simply because "he's tough" or "he's not afraid of the GOP".
I have a filter; if it was someone on the other side doing or saying whatever, what would my response be?

[djean111]

2. And Patrick Murphy was a rich Republican until 2011, now he is a rich Democrat.

Personally, I am not going to vote for anyone who belongs to that DINO organization, New Democrat Coalition, so there is nothing that can be said of Grayson that will induce me to vote for Murphy.

What is going on in Florida is what makes me laugh at, no, wait, sneer at the condescending advice that if we want Progressives, we need to start local. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has no intention of letting Progressives or liberals advance.

Oh, and anyone who screeches that Liz Warren was GOP until about 20 years ago? Murphy was a member of TODAY'S horrid GOP only four years ago. I am assuming he was of sound mind during his years of being with the GOP.

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/apr/09/brook-hines/patrick-murphy-supports-gop-most-key-votes-strateg/

Murphy has lived up to his moderate campaigns. He voted for a measure that would have made the president balance the budget by 2023 and backed a farm bill Democrats balked at because of work requirements for food stamp recipients. He also was one of only 19 Democrats to vote in favor of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

This is what is creeping in to the Democratic Party. I am not voting for it.

[Historic NY]

3. To be fair so is Grayson.

[djean111]

5. Yeah, Grayson is rich. But Grayson is Progressive, he is a liberal, and IMO Murphy did not

have a change of heart, he had a change of convenience. Sickening to see him touted as a liberal. Wasserman has even refused to support Democrats because they were running against her GOP buddies. And she is in charge of the DNC. This is doing more to shove me completely out of being a Democrat than anything else - watching the Third Way types take over.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24478039.html

Democrats torn between party, GOP friends

But as three Miami Democrats look to unseat three of her South Florida Republican colleagues, Wasserman Schultz is staying on the sidelines. So is Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Miami Democrat and loyal ally to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
........
This time around, Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their relationships with the Republican incumbents, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother Mario, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, leave them little choice but to sit out the three races.

......
But Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their ties to the three Republicans are personal as well as professional: Both served in the state Legislature with Mario Diaz-Balart and say they work in concert with all three on South Florida issues.

Wasserman Schultz has also played a leading role in persuading the new Democratic majority to sustain the economic embargo against Cuba and has established close ties to the staunchly pro-embargo U.S.-Cuba Democracy political action committee, which has contributed thousands to Wasserman Schultz and Meek's campaigns.

Florida politics is dirty stuff on both sides. And not the fault of the voters.

[Daniel537]

25. Always good to remind people of that stunt DWS pulled back in '08.

And to think she's now head of the DNC and continues to undermine the President's policy shift on Cuba.

[leftynyc]

7. Grayson is a slimebag

and all the evidence I need for that was the way he treated his wife during their divorce. Thankfully, I can't vote in that race but if I could, I would vote anti-slimebag.

[djean111]

8. I understand your point of view, but I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who,

in my estimation, will affect far more people in far worse ways. Plus we seem to forgive other very highly-placed politicians for their treatment of their wives. Grayson is just not as charming as some others.

[leftynyc]

9. It's not the "charm" thing at all

We're talking about a purple state and the reality is that a moderate Dem has a better chance of winning than a bombastic, easy to parody liberal. Also Grayson is a slimebag.

[djean111]

10. I realize this is between a rock and a hard place. But IMO Wasserman does not want a blue state,

she wants a purple Democratic Party.

[leftynyc]

11. I'm not sure I agree but here

we're talking specifically about Florida - the state that elected and reelected Rick Scott. Grayson would get clobbered.

[Major Nikon]

15. FWIW, That evidence came from her divorce lawyer who is a no-shit slimebag

...and should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

[leftynyc]

16. Really?

So this article is lying when it says he called her a gold digger:

Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) continued his metamorphosis into IRL @_FloridaMan Monday as he called his wife, whom he’s divorcing in a nasty and at times bizarre proceeding, a “gold digger.”

“I’ll sum it up for you. Gold diggers gotta dig. That’s all I gotta say,” he said. “We had an agreement. She’s trying to renege.”

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rep-grayson-on-soon-to-be-ex-wife-gold-diggers-gotta-dig/

Or that he tried to have her arrested:

http://politicalwire.com/2015/05/20/grayson-tried-to-have-his-wife-arrested/

Both of those article are lying?

[Major Nikon]

17. Yeah, really

I didn't say anyone was lying, I said her lawyer is a slimebag.

Marrying a rich guy without bothering to get divorced from your previous spouse and withholding that information from your current spouse is not only illegal, but pretty much qualifies one as a gold digger, YMMV.

If his wife was making unauthorized purchases on his credit card, she should have been arrested. That's fraud and is illegal, unlike when Grayson's wife was trying (unsuccessfully and fraudulently) to get a restraining order against him for assault, when it was actually her that assaulted him.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/alan-graysons-wife-files-for-protection-after-alleged-domestic-dispute/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mediaite%2FClHj+(Mediaite)

Whatever Grayson is or isn't, there's no question his wife is a shitbag and her lawyer is using whatever tactics he can to discredit him without too much regard to the legitimacy or legality of his wife's actions.

[leftynyc]

18. Good luck with

that slimebag as the candidate. I wouldn't vote for him for dog catcher.

[Major Nikon]

19. I don't live in Florida

So I won't be voting for him anytime soon regardless. I just don't put much stock in any attempt to smear him related to his divorce when his soon to be ex-wife is certainly not without her own faults and is trying to make every aspect of their divorce public in order to gain leverage. I could really care less about his personal life anyway. It's how he votes that matters and his voting record is unquestionably one of the most progressive in the entire House, if not the most progressive.

[leftynyc]

20. And yet he married her

How many different ways are you trying to convince me he's the wrong candidate? I wont vote for a dirtbag just because I like the way he votes in congress.

[Stevepol]

4. Maybe I'm being naive

but I don't trust DINOs when it comes to allegations against Dems, especially in FL, which seems to me to be one of the most corrupt 3 or 4 states in the nation.

Even if what is alleged is true, the crime or misstep or whatever it can be called, pales in comparison with the graft and criminality of Scott and his cohorts, not to mention the entirely legal depriving of health care to the poorest in the state just to give Obama a black eye. I suspect that if you chose any FL Republican legislator at random you could find more serious crimes to prosecute than those Grayson is alleged to have committed.

[djean111]

6. This is entirely because Wasserman-Schultz is backing Centrist Patrick Murphy. nt

[Roy Rolling]

14. whatever the outcome

Patrick Murphy is doing the work of Republican opponents and saving Republican campaigns lots of money.

I would count myself as a typical, non-engaged voter in Florida since I know little about that particular race out of my state. So as a low-information voter, I may wonder if all Democrats are corrupt that even another Democrat files complaints. Maybe I should just vote for a Republican, they are more ethical?

As a Democrat, I would welcome scrutiny. As a Republican or Independent, it would turn me away from Democrats, even Murphy. Maybe there are examples of this strategy helping a candidate down the road, if so I stand corrected.

My conclusion: what a cluster fu*k.

[Nye Bevan]

21. Grayson is a genius.

He's figured out how to be a rich hedge-fund one-percenter with ethical clouds hanging over him and still not only have many DUers defend him but also urge him to run for the Senate!

Well played sir!

[Tarheel_Dem]

23. +1. "Well played sir!"

[Human101948]

26. Do you have investments in a hedge fund?

I didn't think so. Nor do I. If he is milking a hedge fund and soaking one percenters while pushing progressive legislation I will support him over the DINO who answers to banker contributors and votes Republican. (It's reaching across the aisle!)

[secondvariety]

22. Well, I'm certainly

NOT voting for Murphy and unless someone better comes along, I'll vote for Grayson.

[Daniel537]

24. I'm undecided on Grayson

but i sure as hell won't be voting for "former Republican" Murphy.

[bigwillq]

27. Grayson is a POS (nt)