WHY WASN’T THIS A BIGGER STORY? — Congressman Grimm Talks to Geraldo Rivera About Being Found Guilty and Stepping Down As Early As January 2015

Late last week, Congressman Michael Grimm implied that a jury of his peers just might find him guilty after about a three week trial on the charges pending against him in Federal Court  —   And this could lead to his stepping down as Congressman for Staten Island and part of Brooklyn   

Even while talking about possibility of his stepping down,  Michael Grimm took sullen swipes at his most recent nemesis, Dominic Recchia   —   strongly implying that Recchia is not qualified to be in congress or even run for the position

During the same Geraldo Rivera interview, Grimm spoke about his own internal polling showing that he has a 3 to 4 point lead over Recchia

According to an article by Tom Wrobleski, “ ‘If things don't go my way, and I had to step down in January, then there will be a special election,’ Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) told WABC radio host Geraldo Rivera during an interview [last] Thursday....” (See “In radio interview, GOP Rep. Michael Grimm talks about potential special election if he has to leave his House seat” by Tom Wrobleski, 10/2/14 [http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/10/gop_rep_michael_grimm_talks_ab.html#incart_story_package]). In the same article, was this snarky quote by the hard-pressed congressman, “At least the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn would have qualified people to choose from....”  Of course Grimm’s implication is that his current opponent, Domenic Recchia, is not qualified.

This report and the interview on ABC is a big deal and it should have been picked up by the city-wide dailies and the local press throughout the district (although there might be some lag time for the locals).  Here's why....

GRIMM  IMPLIED THAT A JURY OF HIS PEERS MIGHT FIND HIM GUILTY, IN WHICH CASE HE MIGHT BE FORCED TO STEP DOWN OR DO SO VOLUNTARILY

As for his legal troubles, Grimm told Rivera that he expects the trial on the Federal charges of tax evasion, fraud, conspiracy and other matters to take "two or three weeks" and that jury selection is slated to begin on December First. Grimm then added, "I have a good legal team, and I give that to them."  Here’s something else that Grimm said according to the Advance: “If, God forbid, things don't go my way, there's a special election and I know Staten Island has great people who would run from the Republican side, but, you know what, at least a qualified Democrat can step up....   I still think that the Republican would win anyway because we have some very, very good elected officials here at the local level that would step up.”

IMMEDIATE EFFORT AT DAMAGE CONTROL: GRIMM SPOKESMAN REPEATS WORDS ABOUT CONGRESSMAN GRIMM’S BEING   “COMPELLED TO  STEP DOWN” OR CHOOSING TO DO SO

Shortly afterward, Grimm’s spokesman Nick Iacono said that Grimm was "not committing to any kind of contingency or trigger" when he told Geraldo Rivera and the radio audience about the possibility of the congressman’s leaving the House. Iacono explained  that Congressman Grimm was only speaking of what might happen if for any reason he should choose to or be compelled to step down.

GRIMM ALSO SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED  “ALL” HIS “INTERNAL POLLS” AS SHOWING THAT HE HAS A THREE TO FOUR POINT [3 – 4 %] LEAD  —   TO DATE, THE DETAILS OF SUCH POLLING DATA HAS NOT BEEN DISCLOSED BY THE GRIMM CAMPAIGN OR FILED AT THE BOE

Something else jumped out in this particular article by Mr. Wrobleski.  Grimm told the radio interviewer Geraldo Rivera that his campaign's internal polling looks good. Grimm going so far as to say on the radio that  “We're doing well....  All my internal polls have us slightly ahead. We're just about 3 or 4 points [ahead] in every poll we've done.”

My  computer search disclosed no published polling data by the Grimm campaign or any filed polling information at the Board of Elections that would back up Grimm’s claim that he has a 3-4% lead over his opponent, based on “[all his] internal polls [that have him] slightly ahead.”