Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Roseville) gave up his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, a day after reports surfaced that the FBI had searched his northern Virginia home. Doolittle and his wife, who runs a political consulting firm, have come under scrutiny for their ties to imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is cooperating in a corruption investigation.http://www.latimes.c...
Well, now we have another raid, this time
involving Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona. http://public.cq.com...
The Republicans moved quickly to evict John T. Doolittle of California, a former member of the House leadership, from the Appropriations Committee on Thursday, less than 24 hours after revelations that the FBI had recently raided his home.***Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., said in a written statement that he was stepping down from the Intelligence Committee after agents raided a family business in Arizona.
"Today, the FBI came to my family's business to obtain documents related to their investigation," Renzi said. He added, "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."
Doolittle, who was GOP conference secretary in the 109th Congress, voluntarily surrendered his seat on the coveted Appropriations panel. But GOP aides said Republican leaders made clear that if Doolittle failed to quit on his own, they would move to throw him off.
Renzi's problems stem from the outside income earned by his administrative assistant and from legislation he sponsored that benefited his father. Here's the Virginia connection:
In 2003, Rep. Renzi sponsored legislation that dealt hundreds of millions of dollars to his father's business while, according to environmentalists, devastating the San Pedro River. A key beneficiary of Rep. Renzi's legislation was ManTech International Corp., a Fairfax, Virginia based defense contractor where Rep. Renzi's father, Retired Major General Eugene Renzi, is an executive vice president. The company, which has an office in Sierra Vista, Arizona, was the largest contributor to Renzi's 2002 congressional campaign and the second largest in his 2004 campaign.http://rawstory.com/...
And there's a link to the Gonzales attorney firings. http://rawstory.com/... There is speculation that the firing of the Arizona U.S. Attorney, Paul Charlton, was linked to his investigation of Renzi.