Breaking: Republican Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi indicted on multiple federal charges

[spanone]

cnn breaking news no link yet

www.cnn.com

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. snakey land deals,

26 page indictment. lots of details. Poor scum. having to resign from Intel committee last year. And now this. I feel so, well, FU.

[tekisui]

2. The hits keep coming!

[annabanana]

3. All Together Now

Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum,

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust

[Hepburn]

4. Google news....

Republican Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona has been indicted on charges connected to land deals in Arizona.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has scheduled a 9:30 a.m. news conference.

Details will be updated as they become available.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/phoenix_local_news_022208_rick-renzi-indicted.19657e99.html

[spanone]

6. the thug sleaze just has no end to it

[blondeatlast]

5. BE STILL MY HEART! What a disgusting snake that one was.

Oh. My. God. He ran as a moral fundie type, too.

I must dance--excuse me a moment. :bounce:

Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[L. Coyote]

7. Yet another Arizona R politico is corrupt! No surprise there. Long List

and, for Arizonans, old news all over again.

[blondeatlast]

10. McCain. Renzi--oh, if it could only be Salmon I'd die a happy, happy woman!

Just remember, America, AZ gave you Mo Udall and Bruce Babbitt (I always like to remind people we've managed a few good ones :rofl:)

[salinen]

14. John Kyl

and J.D. Hayworth. The scum that floats on top of scum.

[blondeatlast]

19. Hayworth is mercifully gone and blathering on a third-rate local RW talkie station

(we're so red we have about 5 of them).

I scared my parrot the night Hayworth was defeated because I was so happy!

[Mabus]

23. Any idea how close Renzi and McCain are?

[blondeatlast]

26. I don't think they are close at all, really. I don't think they'd care for each other!

Renzi's a dumbfuck, isolated district rural land developer (yes, he really was) "moral values" type and McCain is a dumbfuck, convinced of his own moral purity but rotten to the core, "maverick" from Phoenix.

It's like the difference between Pinetop, Arizona and Phoenix--worlds apart.

[Mabus]

34. gotcha

makes sense. Thanks for the information.

[blondeatlast]

36. Oh, my--I'm quite mistaken! Turns out Renzi is McCain's Arizona campaign

manager! :blush:

Could I have been more wrong?! My bad! :rofl:

[Mabus]

37. LOL

Politics, bed fellows and all that. It could have gone either way. Thanks for the correction. :thumbsup:

[blondeatlast]

39. This is third hand and I'm trying to confirm but I need to leave.

The McCain site is no help. :shrug:

[Mabus]

40. confirmed by Josh Marshall: McCain's Arizona Leadership Team (1/24)

Update: It's worth recalling that the Renzi case played a small role in the U.S. attorneys' firings scandal. One of the fired U.S. attorneys was Arizona's Paul Charlton. The investigation dates way back to June of 2005, but it did not surface publicly under shortly before the 2006 midterm elections. Renzi's people, obviously, weren't happy, and an aide to Renzi put in a call to Charlton (who in turn reported the contact to the Justice Department leadership).

And the Wall Street Journal later reported that investigators and prosecutors in Arizona had been frustrated with senior Justice Department officials' general reluctance to pursue the investigation. The thrust of the piece was that the investigation had been slow-rolled in the run-up to the election.

Update: Renzi is, at least for the time being, a co-chair of John McCain's Arizona Leadership Team (he's one of 24 co-chairs). One imagines he won't be such a public advocate for McCain this election.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/breaking_gop_rep_renzi_indicte.php

edited to add: fwiw, Renzi may just be on there because he's a Republican Congressman and it is a position in name only. McCain is from his state and it may just be a pro forma position. Of course it would be interesting to find out how much interaction - joint fundraisers and trips they have done together. Not to mention looking at Renzi's contributors and his votes.

[skipos]

41. They look pretty happy here:

[Mabus]

43. Yes they do

Maybe McCain can give Renzi some tips of how to stay relatively sane while incarcerated.

[Hepburn]

8. MSNBC....reporting the same right now....on a news break in. n/t

[spanone]

9. WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona has been indicted on charges connected to la

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona has been indicted on charges connected to land deals in Arizona.

[rurallib]

11. FuxNews will no doubt put a (D) next to his name on their graphic

[spanone]

12. let them, the (R) stink will still be all over him

[Recursion]

13. Was this seen coming?

Or is it kind of a bolt from the blue?

[BlooInBloo]

17. It was seen.

[blondeatlast]

24. He unexpectedly resigned from the House Intelligence Committee last year

then a few months ago said he would not run for re-election. There's been local talk of this for nearly a decade at least but he ran as a fundie "moral values" guy from a very rural and isolated district, so he pulled it off by playing the moral values card.

Arizona knew this was coming and so did he.

[fascisthunter]

15. Are Any Republicans Not Corrupt?

bumpersticker material

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Unfettered Republicanism®

How many is this now? I've lost count.

Unfettered Republicanism® ...... an ongoing criminal enterprise.

Buh Bye, Rickie ..... I hope you enjoy the pink undies in your boy Joe Arpaio's jail.

[troubleinwinter]

32. I guess he won't be able to wear his custom made boots with those pink undies.

"vanity boots": Renzi's custom-made boots...



"Rick Renzi promised himself a pair of cowboy boots if elected Northern Arizona's U.S. Congressman.

Renzi presented some design elements to include: the family crest, dating back to 13th-century Florence (Firenze), grapes and leaves to honor the vineyard the Renzi family owns south of Tucson."

[spanone]

18. a little background

WASHINGTON, April 20 — Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona stepped down suddenly Friday from the House Intelligence Committee, saying he was doing so because he was under federal investigation dealing with a series of financial transactions.

Mr. Renzi is the second Republican congressman in the last two days to relinquish an important committee post because of a federal inquiry, a development suggesting a quickening pace of some federal corruption investigations of members of Congress.

Representative John T. Doolittle of California gave up his seat Thursday on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Mr. Doolittle has been linked in three inquiries to accusations that committee members accepted bribes or campaign contributions in exchange for earmarking federal money to certain projects.

The investigation of Mr. Renzi, a wealthy developer from the Flagstaff area, began before the November elections and involves accusations that he improperly used his influence as a congressman to engineer a land swap benefiting a business associate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/washington/21lobby.html?sq=rick%20renzi&st=nyt&scp=1&pagewanted=print

[Hepburn]

20. WaPo, October 2006:

U.S. prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation into whether Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) twice pressured landowners to buy a 480-acre parcel owned by his former business partner, a major backer of Renzi's political campaign, according to federal law enforcement sources.

The deal ultimately netted the business partner a $3 million profit, according to Arizona land records.

<snip>

The Arizona transaction has drawn the interest of the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI's Phoenix field office. Three law enforcement officials said both are investigating Renzi's involvement in two land deals -- one of which was not completed -- designed to put the 480 acres under federal protection from development in exchange for land more fit for commercial development.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401715.html

[spanone]

21. 35 count indictment

Arizona GOP lawmaker indicted

Story Highlights
Rep. Rick Renzi indicted on federal charges Friday
Charges include conspiracy, money laundering and extortion
Indictment of Arizona Republican stems from land deals by business partner
Three-term congressman has said he would not seek re-election
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted Friday on multiple federal charges, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

In a 35-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in Arizona, Renzi is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering extortion and insurance fraud.

The indictment stem from Renzi's efforts to use his position in Congress to promote land deals in Arizona by a former business partner, according to the sources.

The Arizona Republican has been under an ethical cloud ever since a family business was raided earlier this year by the FBI, which is investigating whether he used his federal office for personal gain.

Renzi has never admitted to wrongdoing.

Renzi, a three-term member of the House, announced in August that he would not seek re-election.

CNN's Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/22/renzi.indictment/index.html

[spanone]

22. conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering extortion and insurance fraud.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

25. Hey , not to worry

only Dems get real time - See Don Siegelman.

[grantcart]

27. 35 kick and r

[Hepburn]

28. Raw Story:

Republican Rep. Rick Renzi has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona.

A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Arizona accuses Renzi and two former business partners of conspiring to promote the sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal government. The sale netted one of Renzi's former partners $4.5 million.

Nearly a year ago, as RAW STORY reported, the embattled congressman denied newspaper reports and rumors that he planned on resigning, as the FBI probed. The congressman did relinquish all three of his House committee assignments, including his seat on the House Intelligence Committee. He has since decided not to run for re-election.

Renzi was under FBI investigation before the 2006 mid-term elections, but the Justice Department delayed approving necessary investigation tools for federal investigators in Arizona before November. Speculation mounted that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have intervened to slow down the probe before Renzi was re-elected.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/GOP_Congressman_indicted_for_extortion_money_0222.html

CNN link:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/22/renzi.indictment/index.html

[Fly by night]

29. When the Smirking Chimp's Just-us Dept. brings charges against a Rethug, ...

... you just know he has to be bad (or no longer a "team Rapture" player).

[spanone]

30. or it's sooo fucking blatant they have to 'cut the cord'

[Richard Steele]

31. K&R

[seafan]

33. Rick Renzi--Patty Roe--Jason Roe--Tom Feeney--Jack Abramoff

Will add this old thread here:

Rick Renzi--Patty Roe--Jason Roe--Tom Feeney--Jack Abramoff, April 25, 2007

[spanone]

35. nytimes / washington post - nada, zip, ziltch, zero.

www.nytimes.com
www.washingtonpost.com

crickets.......

[blondeatlast]

38. Renzi appears to be McCain's Arizona campaign manager--

this was heard third hand and I can't confirm it now (I have to leave shortly).

Can anyone confirm this somehow? The McCain site is no help.

[Disturbed]

42. Co-Chairs

Co-Chairs
Betsey Bayless, Former Arizona Secretary of State and Maricopa County Supervisor
Tim Bee, Arizona Senate President
Jan Brewer, Arizona Secretary of State
Jeff Flake, United States Representative, 6th District
Mike Gleason, Arizona Corporation Commissioner
Joe Hart, Arizona State Mine Inspector
Jeff Hatch-Miller, Arizona Corporation Commissioner
Mike Hellon, Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman and Republican National Committeeman
Tom Horne, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jane D. Hull, Former Arizona Governor
Lisa Graham Keegan, Former Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jim Kolbe, Former United States Representative
Burton Kruglick, Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman
Kris Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commissioner
Mike Minnaugh, Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman
William Mundell, Arizona Corporation Commissioner
John Munger, Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman
Gary Pierce, Arizona Corporation Commissioner
**Rick Renzi, United States Representative, 1st District **
Matt Salmon, Former United States Representative & Arizona Republican Party Chairman
John Shadegg, United States Representative, 3rd District
Fife Symington, Former Arizona Governor
Jim Weiers, Arizona Speaker of the House of Representatives
Grant Woods, Former Arizona Attorney General

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/abc114c1-bddb-46a3-b607-250a9bbc5a40.htm