GOP Rep. Michael Grimm (NY) Surrenders To FBI On 20 Federal Charges

GOP Rep. Michael Grimm surrendered to the FBI this morning after being indicted on 20 federal charges related to a restaurant he owned before winning a seat in the US House in 2010.

The charges stem from his ownership of a Manhattan health-food restaurant that has ties to an Israeli fundraiser who served as a liaison between Grimm and a mystic, celebrity rabbi whose followers donated more than $500,000 to Grimm’s campaign in 2010. Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, released the 30-page indictment in a strongly worded attack against the former FBI fraud investigator. “Michael Grimm made the choice from going to upholding the law to breaking the law,” Lynch told reporters. “As a former FBI agent, Representative Grimm should understand the motto: fidelity, bravery, and integrity,” FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos said in a statement. “Yet he broke our credo at nearly every turn. In this twenty-count indictment, Representative Grimm lived by a new motto: fraud, perjury, and obstruction.”

Twitchy is very upset that Grimm is being identified as a Republican. Grimm is the only GOP member of the New York City delegation in the House.

RELATED: Grimm made national news earlier this year when he was caught on live television while threatening to throw a NY1 reporter over the balcony at the US Capitol.