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The New York Times
Grand Jury Indicts
Arizona Congressman
By DAVID M.
HERSZENHORN, nytimes.com on the Web, February 23, 2008
WASHINGTON — Representative
Rick Renzi, Republican of Arizona, was indicted this week by a federal grand
jury on 35 counts of corruption, including fraud, money laundering, extortion
and other crimes, federal prosecutors said Friday.
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Pool photograph by Sabah Arar
Rick Renzi, a Republican, is in his third term in the
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Federal prosecutors said Mr. Renzi
had sought to enrich himself and to finance his re-election campaigns in part by
selling fraudulent insurance policies.
In a 26-page indictment, prosecutors charged that Mr. Renzi abused the power of
his office by forcing constituents to buy land from a man who was his secret
business partner in exchange for Mr. Renzi’s support for legislation. The
partner funneled $733,000 in proceeds from the sale to Mr. Renzi, prosecutors
said.
Mr. Renzi, who is an Arizona co-chairman of Senator John McCain’s presidential
campaign, had been under investigation for more than two years and announced
last August that he would not seek re-election this November to a fourth term.
As soon as the indictment was announced, Democrats began circulating a statement
in which Mr. McCain, of Arizona, praised Mr. Renzi’s “honesty and integrity”
while urging voters to re-elect him in 2006.
Mr. Renzi’s lawyers issued a statement proclaiming his innocence.
“Congressman Renzi did nothing wrong,” said the lawyers, Reid H. Weingarten and
Kelly B. Kramer. “We will fight these charges until he is vindicated and
his family’s name is restored.”
But Republican leaders in Congress indicated they would be glad to see him leave
office as quickly as possible. The indictment comes as the House considers
a proposal to create an independent ethics office to investigate alleged
misconduct.
“The charges contained in this indictment are completely unacceptable for a
member of Congress,” the Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of
Ohio, said in an unusually pointed statement, “and I strongly urge
Representative Renzi to seriously consider whether he can continue to
effectively represent his constituents under these circumstances.”
Mr. Boehner said he would meet with Mr. Renzi “at the earliest possible
opportunity to discuss this situation and the best option for his constituents,
our conference and the American people.”
Mr. Renzi, 49, is among several lawmakers to be indicted or placed under federal
investigation in recent months.
Representative John T. Doolittle, Republican of California, announced last month
that he would not seek re-election, a sign that he is likely to face criminal
charges in a Congressional lobbying scandal. Representative Don Young and
Senator Ted Stevens, Republicans from Alaska, have been under investigation for
their ties to a businessman who has admitted bribing public officials. Mr.
Doolittle, Mr. Young and Mr. Stevens all deny wrongdoing.
The investigation of Mr. Renzi was also tied to allegations that the Bush
administration dismissed federal prosecutors for political reasons. Paul
K. Charlton, the United States attorney in Phoenix who opened the investigation
of Mr. Renzi, was one of the eight prosecutors dismissed.
At a news conference in Phoenix, Mr. Charlton’s successor, Diane J. Humetewa,
described Mr. Renzi’s actions as “two courses of criminal activity and conduct.”
First, Ms. Humetewa said, Mr. Renzi “embezzled funds from his own insurance
company’s trust accounts and used those funds to finance his first Congressional
campaign in 2001 and 2002.” According to the indictment, Mr. Renzi and his
partner in an insurance company engaged in a conspiracy “to embezzle and
misappropriate client premiums.” The indictment also said Mr. Renzi
falsified his Congressional financial disclosure forms.
The second course of criminal activity, Ms. Humetewa said, involved Mr. Renzi’s
efforts to force constituents to purchase land from his business partner, James
Sandlin, in exchange for his support of legislation that would allow the
constituents to engage in a land swap with the federal government.
“No Sandlin property, no bill,” Mr. Renzi said, according to the indictment.
In forcing a sale, Ms. Humetewa said, “Congressman Renzi deprived the citizens
of Arizona of their right to his honest services.”
In their statement, Mr. Renzi’s lawyers accused the Justice Department of
political motivations. They also criticized the timing of the indictment,
which they said came a day after the funeral of Mr. Renzi’s father.
Mr. Renzi and two co-defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on March 6.
Paul Giblin contributed reporting from Phoenix.
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