The Federal Bureau of Investigations are meant to investigate dangerous criminals in the United States. Well they certainly have a treasure trove of them in the Republican caucus. Earlier this week they raided the businesses of John Doolittle for his connections with Jack Abramoff. After a quick rest the FBI went one state over to raid Rick Renzi's business (link to subscription-only Roll Call). Technically it was under his wife's name, but when it comes to the corrupt practices of sneaky Republicans it isn't hard to connect the dots.
From Roll Call via ThinkProgress:
Little is known about the inquiries into Renzi’s activities, but according to media reports the Justice Department has been running a two-track investigation into Renzi regarding a land deal, as well as a piece of legislation he helped steer that may have improperly benefited a major campaign contributor. It was not immediately clear which investigation the raid pertained to, and neither his attorney nor his spokesman could be immediately reached for comment.
As a result of the raid, Renzi is stepping down from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, according to a statement from his office obtained Thursday evening by Roll Call.
“Today, the FBI came to my family’s business to obtain documents related to their investigation,” Renzi said. “I view these actions as the first step in bringing out the truth. Until this matter is resolved, I will take a leave of absence from the House Intelligence Committee. I intend to fully cooperate with this investigation.”
I am glad to hear he is mentioning the 'truth.' Stepping down from his committee is a good first step in taking responsibility for his unethical actions as a public servant. The truth is that he has only been serving his own interests up in Arizona's 1st Congressional district. Of course saying he will fully cooperate with the investigation and actually doing it are two totally separate things. If he truly wants to get squared up he should tell investigators about his illegalities (alleged of course), resign from office and take the punishment that is most fitting for his particular crimes, kinda like Duke Cunningham.
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