Talk about deja vu! I took a look at Roll Call this morning, and saw an article about the FBI raiding a Congressman's property. I thought to myself, "Are they running the same Doolittle story with a different headline?"
Nope, this is a different Congressman, different scandal (we assume), but the same old headache for House Republican leadership. Details are scarce, but it appears Representative Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has been under investigation for both a land deal and steering legislation that favored a big campaign contributor. The agents raided the offices of Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Arizona, a business listed as belonging to Renzi's wife Roberta - again with the wives!
Renzi is wasting no time in trying to control the damage, both in the public eye and internally with his party.
As a result of the raid, Renzi is stepping down from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, according to a statement from his office obtained Thursday evening by Roll Call.
"Today, the FBI came to my family's business to obtain documents related to their investigation," Renzi said. "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."
Renzi informed Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) of the raid Thursday afternoon.
Renzi told Boehner what was happening the same day the raid occurred - as opposed to Rep. Doolittle, who waited six days, which undoubtedly made the Minority Leader very happy. Renzi and Doolittle have something else in common, though - yesterday after the story of the raid on his home became big news, Doolittle stepped down from his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
UDPATE: Via CREW, this Arizona Republic article from last month suggests a possible connection to the US Attorney firing scandal. Arizona US Attorney Paul Charlton, one of the ousted eight, was investigating Renzi on the land swap issue, and contacted Justice Dept. officials after his removal for help in dealing with media inquiries on the connection. This story just keeps getting juicier!
