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Grimm Gone.….

Grimm announced Dec. 23 that he had pleaded guilty to one count of felony tax fraud. He will be sentenced June 8.
Grimm announced Dec. 23 that he had plead­ed guilty to one count of felony tax fraud. He will be sen­tenced June 8.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Michael Grimm plans to resign from Congress in the wake of his guilty plea on a felony tax eva­sion charge. Grimm (R‑S.I.) said after he entered his plea last week that he would con­tin­ue to serve in the House.

But he reversed course after speak­ing Monday to House Speaker John Boehner (R‑Ohio), who has tak­en a hard line on Republicans fac­ing ethics charges. “The events which led to this day did not break my spir­it, nor the will of the vot­ers,” Grimm said in a state­ment issued Monday night. “However, I do not believe that I can con­tin­ue to be 100% effec­tive in the next Congress, and there­fore, out of respect for the office and the peo­ple I so proud­ly rep­re­sent, it is time for me to start the next chap­ter of my life.” He said he reached his deci­sion “after much thought and prayer,” and that his res­ig­na­tion would be effec­tive on Jan. 5, the day before the new Congress is sworn in. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to comment.

Boehner
Boehner

“We do not dis­cuss pri­vate con­ser­va­tions the speak­er has with mem­bers,” Steel said. Grimm issued his state­ment after the Daily News first report­ed that he had decid­ed to step down. Before his plea, Grimm had been sched­uled to go on tri­al Feb. 2 on charges of evad­ing tax­es by hid­ing more than $1 mil­lion in receipts and wages at Healthalicious, a Manhattan restau­rant he owned before he was elect­ed to Congress in 2010. Despite the charges, Grimm eas­i­ly won reelec­tion on Nov. 4, beat­ing Democrat Domenic Recchia 55% to 42%. Grimm said dur­ing that cam­paign that he would

resign his seat if a con­vic­tion left him “unable to serve.” After plead­ing guil­i­ty he said that he still could serve. But on Monday he con­clud­ed his posi­tion was unten­able, sources said.

The Staten Island Republican had said during that campaign that he would resign his seat if a conviction left him 'unable to serve' in Congress.
The Staten Island Republican had said dur­ing that cam­paign that he would resign his seat if a con­vic­tion left him ‘unable to serve’ in Congress.

Grimm’s res­ig­na­tion will mean Gov. Cuomo has to call a spe­cial elec­tion to fill the seat. GOP can­di­dates could include Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who has faced scathing crit­i­cism over a grand jury’s fail­ure to hand down an indict­ment in the Eric Garner case, along with Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and state Sen. Andrew Lanza. One GOP insid­er said Donovan was the ear­ly favorite. “He is lin­ing up the sup­port of the par­ty heads,” the insid­er said. “It seems pret­ty clear he may emerge as the nom­i­nee.” Malliotakis said in a state­ment Monday night that she is inter­est­ed in run­ning in the spe­cial elec­tion. Democratic con­tenders could include for­mer Rep. Michael McMahon and Assemblyman Michael Cusick.(NYdailynews.com.