GOP Rep. Michael Grimm To Resign

Via CNN: 

Rep. Michael Grimm announced late Monday night plans to resign from Congress, after pleading guilty to a felony tax evasion charge last week. The announcement came just hours after a source familiar with Grimm's thinking told CNN he would resign "sooner rather than later," after the New York Daily News broke the news of Grimm's plans to step down. "After much thought and prayer, I have made the very difficult decision to step down from Congress effective January 5th, 2015. This decision is made with a heavy heart, as I have enjoyed a very special relationship and closeness with my constituents, whom I care about deeply," Grimm said in a statement issued shortly before midnight by his office. The Staten Island congressman was indicted in April on 20 counts relating to his health food restaurant, Healthalicious, including charges that he filed false tax returns; engaged in mail fraud, wire fraud and perjury; and knowingly hired undocumented workers.

Grimm earned national headlines last year when he was caught on camera as he threatened to throw a NY1 reporter off of a Capitol Building balcony and break him in half "like a boy." A special election will be scheduled for his House seat.

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.

GOP Rep. Michael Grimm (NY) Threatens Reporter: I Could Break You In Half

Earlier today Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY made positive news when he became the sixth Republican member of the House to co-sponsor ENDA. Grimm's move won him accolades from openly gay Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), the bill's author. But tonight Grimm dominated the post-SOTU Twitterverse for threatening to assault a NY1 reporter who dared to ask him about his burgeoning campaign finance scandal back home, which so far has resulted in the arrest of one of his fundraisers.

The Daily Beast recaps tonight's scene:

Congressman Michael Grimm threatened Michael Scotto, a reporter with NY1, a local New York television news station, after the State of the Union Tuesday night saying "you're not a man. I could break you in half." Scotto, was finishing an interview with Staten Island Republican Michael Grimm about the State of the Union when he decided to ask one more question. What that question was is unclear because Grimm immediately cut him off saying "I'm not speaking about anything that is off-topic. This is only about the President's speech." The reporter then spoke to the camera saying that he hoped to ask Grimm about the ongoing campaign finance investigation around his 2010 campaign. Grimm has been linked to an allegedly corrupt Israeli rabbi and his ex-girlfriend has been indicted on charges of being a straw donor among other controversies.

According to a NY1 producer, Grimm also said this: "Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again - I'll throw you off this fucking balcony." The poor kid looks really startled.

UPDATE: Grimm is not apologizing.