Rick Renzi

That is what Rep. Rick Renzi is accused of:

Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., allegedly defrauded dozens of pro-life organizations for hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund his first congressional bid, according to an analysis of the recent indictment against him, a state insurance claim and an interview with an insurance lawyer involved in the case.

When federal prosecutors indicted Renzi, 49, on 35 felony counts two weeks ago, many reports focused on alleged crimes stemming from a complicated series of land swaps the congressman facilitated.

But the indictment also accuses Renzi, who ran an insurance firm before coming to Capitol Hill, of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums and using the money to fund his congressional campaign.

Now McCain is supposed to be a pro-lifer. Renzi is a big dog on his campaign staff, and McCain won't ask him to leave. It sounds like McCain thinks it's fine to defraud pro-life groups out of thousands of dollars. This might be handy to remember.

Howie has been doing some digging on Renzi. It looks like the House Republican leadership also wants him to get out of dodge. Question. If the House Republican leadership wanted all the crooks to resign, who would be left?

A right wing blog finally makes a little mention of Renzi. It was Instapundit and nothing more than a blurb. Heads in the sand boys (and girls)!

It has been almost two hours since news broke that Republican Congressman and McCain's Arizona campaign co-chair, Rick Renzi, was indicted. In that time there has not been a peep out of the right wing blogs. Not even a thing on Drudge. Hot Air also seems to be ignoring this rather big story.
Hey guys - just because you ignore it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

And the RNC crime family looses another one:

Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit from a land deal.

Renzi, 49, announced in August that he wasn't seeking re- election. He was first elected to the House in 2002.

Two others were indicted with Renzi. The charges in the indictment include conspiracy, money laundering, insurance fraud and wire fraud.

I wonder how his friends feel about this?

"So happy together!"

How about John?

UPDATE:

Huffington Post reminds us that Renzi is the co-chair of McCain's Arizona campaign. I wonder what the Senator has to say about that.

It appears now that the Justice Department may have delayed the investigation into Rep. Rick Renzi until after the elections last year:

As midterm elections approached last November, federal investigators in Arizona faced unexpected obstacles in getting needed Justice Department approvals to advance a corruption investigation of Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, people close to the case said.

The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations. The Arizona U.S. attorney then overseeing the case, Paul Charlton, was told he was being fired in December, one of eight federal prosecutors dismissed in the past year. The dismissals have triggered a wave of criticism and calls from Congress for Mr. Gonzales to resign.

Investigators pursuing the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year before the election, people close to the case said.

No wonder why Gonzo has the approval of Bush. We already know Bush's goal is to bring the federal government into a more darker world of politics (sound familiar former Soviet Union?).

Oh and before people run off on the "liberal media" claim, it should be noted that this article is from the Wall Street Journal.

From Roll Call via Think Progress:

In a second blow to House Republicans this week, the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into the three-term lawmaker.

Details of the raid on Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Ariz., were not immediately available. Renzi’s most recent financial disclosure form lists the business as an asset belonging to his wife, Roberta, and valued at $1 million to $5 million.

Little is known about the inquiries into Renzi’s activities, but according to media reports the Justice Department has been running a two-track investigation into Renzi regarding a land deal, as well as a piece of legislation he helped steer that may have improperly benefited a major campaign contributor. It was not immediately clear which investigation the raid pertained to, and neither his attorney nor his spokesman could be immediately reached for comment.

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.”

CREW is also reporting that an Arizona U.S.A. who was investigating Renzi was fired:

Last September, CREW named Rep. Rick Renzi as one of the most corrupt members of Congress in our report, "Beyond DeLay."  Last October, the Associated Press reported that Renzi was under federal investigation for a land deal.  In December, Paul Charlton, the U.S. Attorney in Arizona who was investigating Renzi, was fired.  Speculation is growing about whether the Renzi investigation led to Charlton's dismissal

I believe we have more than coincidence here when we now have two attorneys who are involved in corruption cases against GOP congressmen losing their jobs. Considering how many lies Gonzales has been caught in, him saying that these were not connected is most likely just another lie.

We also find out a few more details on Doolittle's "resignation" from the Appropriations Committee yesterday:

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.

So it wasn't as much a "resignation" as it was an agreement.

I believe the most ironic part of all this is the fact that these actions are coming on the same week Gonzales had to testify. It sounds like someone pulled some strings to get the ball moving faster.