FBI Probing Rep. Michael Grimm, Not Skinny-Dipping

[kpete]

Source: Talking Points Memo

The FBI is indeed interested in a trip that House Republicans made to Israel last summer. But it’s not because Kansas Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder took his pants off and jumped into the Sea of Galilee after a night of drinking.

Law enforcement sources — noting that skinny-dipping usually doesn’t fall under the FBI’s purview — pointed TPM to a New York Times story from earlier this month about a trip to Cyprus that Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) made following his August venture to Israel alongside several colleagues.

Politico, which first reported the skinny-dipping anecdote, said the FBI “looked into whether any inappropriate behavior occurred, but the interviews do not appear to have resulted in any formal allegations of wrongdoing.”

But FBI agents were actually interested in Grimm’s failure to file paperwork related to his trip to Cyprus following his Israeli junket, which had been paid for by the Cyprus Federation of America. The president of that company was arrested on federal corruption charges in June. Grimm had reported the Israel trip in his initial filing in May but did not list the trip to Cyprus until he amended it in June, one day after Cyprus Federation of America’s president was arrested.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/fbi_probing_rep_michael_grimm_not_skinny-dipping.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TPMmuckraker+%28TPMmuckraker%29

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

1. Hmm, very interesting, wheres there's smoke there's ?

[jberryhill]

2. Well I'm glad you cleared that up

I was scratching my head and wondering wtf business is it of the FBI if some guy went for a swim in another country without his clothes on. I've done that with regularity and could not for the life of me figure out what possible federal law could be implicated.

[maddezmom]

3. a couple of earlier articles: FBI arrests former top fundraiser for Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm

FBI arrests former top fundraiser for Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm (R)

Source: NYDailyNews

Israeli citizen Ofer Biton's arrest is the first bust of anyone targeted in a broader federal probe of allegations that Grimm accepted illegal campaign contributions.


BY JOHN MARZULLI / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A former top fundraiser for Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm and aide to the so-called Rabbi to the Stars has been arrested by the FBI on charges of lying on immigration documents, the Daily News has learned.

Ofer Biton, a citizen of Israel, is accused of making false statements about the source of $400,000 he loaned to a company as part of a entrepreneurial visa program administered by the government.

The criminal complaint was filed by prosecutor Anthony Capozzolo of the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's public corruption unit. He has been leading a probe of allegations that Grimm, a Staten Island Republican, accepted illegal campaign contributions.




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/fbi-arrests-top-fundraiser-staten-island-rep-michael-grimm-article-1.1139005#commentpostform


Top Fundraiser For Rep. Michael Grimm Arrested By FBI

¬snip¬

As first reported by the New York Daily News, Biton has been arrested for lying on immigration documents. The case does not appear to be directly related to his fundraising efforts for the Grimm campaign, which are under FBI investigation.

¬snip¬

The same federal prosecutor who filed the charges against Biton is leading the investigation into Grimm’s campaign financing, according to the Daily News. At least four campaign workers have gotten subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury, the newspaper reported.

Grimm, a former FBI agent, has denied any wrongdoing.

A court document related to the case, obtained by TPM, has been embedded below.

more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/top_fundraiser_for_rep_michael_grimm_arrested_by_f.php
6


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014198428

[Laurian]

4. Makes you wonder what other horseshit might be going on, but we never

hear about because the FBI doesn't have an investigation going on......

[freshwest]

6. We don't know only because they don't always publish it. I'm sure they're very, very busy.

[freshwest]

5. BWAHAHA!

[underpants]

7. Caught with his pants down

[kentauros]

9. Well, how else is the FBI supposed to probe him?

[underpants]

17. Ha!

you said probe

good one

[Pilotguy]

8. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase...

"Kiss my ass, this is a holy site."

[chollybocker]

14. Touché.

[bushisanidiot]

10. OoOoOOOOo!!

This story has more legs than we thought. Looks like things are getting hairier for republican leadership, trying to keep Akins, and the sea of galilee nudists in check! Haha!

[Berlum]

13. Was it Legitimate Nudity?

Or Forcible Nudity? Republican Moral Crusaders will need to probe this deeply so they can HAVE THEIR WAY with Grimm and his Fellow Frolickers. There will be HELL to pay for debauching the Sea of Galilee with Republican's Naked Naughty Bits.

[JI7]

11. this would have never happened if Gay Marriage was still banned

or if Obama wasn't President.

these are good moral men .

HAHHAHAHHAHA

THEY LOVE ISRAEL.

[Berlum]

12. GOP's Grimm Goes GaGa at Galilee

Republican "morals" always disappoint.

[Historic NY]

15. Grimm's fairy tales catching up with him.

[starroute]

16. There's also the alleged extortion

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-03/news/31118094_1_anthony-weiner-michael-grimm-fbi-agent

March 03, 2012

Shortly before his sexting scandal forced him out of office, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner passed on reports to the FBI that Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm extorted an influential rabbi for campaign cash.

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, who has been sought for personal advice by some of Israel’s most powerful pols as well as sports figures such as LeBron James, told Weiner in October 2010 that he felt coerced into encouraging his congregation to donate to Grimm’s campaign.

“The complaint at the time was that Grimm had mentioned that he was a former FBI agent and let the rabbi know, through his interpreter and staff, that he could help the congregation, or make life tougher for them, and that he was a good person to have as a friend, not an enemy,” a law enforcement source told Roll Call. . . .

This is not the first time Grimm, a Republican, has been accused of strong-arming the rabbi’s E. 58th St. congregation, Shuva Israel, which is based heavily in Jewish mysticism. Members told The New York Times in January that Grimm pressured members for donations with relentless phone calls and sometimes told donors to meet downtown near the FBI building.