C
Clay
Guest
WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. Rick Renzi was charged Friday with
extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes in an Arizona
land swap that authorities say helped him collect hundreds of
thousands of dollars in payoffs.
A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Tucson accuses Renzi and a
former business partner of extortion and conspiring to promote the
sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal
government.
Renzi, a three-term member of the House, announced in August that he
would not seek re-election. His lawyer said Friday he was not guilty.
"Congressman Renzi did nothing wrong. We will fight these charges
until he is vindicated and his family's name is restored," Renzi
attorney Kelly Kramer said in an e-mail message to The Associated
Press.
The grand jury accused Renzi of using his position as a member of the
House Natural Resources Committee to push the land swaps for business
partner James W. Sandlin, a real estate investor from Sherman, Texas.
The indictment comes after a lengthy federal investigation into the
land development and insurance businesses owned by Renzi's family.
Authorities allege Renzi and Sandlin concealed at least $733,000 that
the congressman took for helping seal the land deals. They are each
charged with 27 counts of wire fraud, extortion and money laundering,
and conspiracy connected to a transaction in Cochise County, Ariz.
"Renzi was having financial difficulty throughout 2005 and needed a
substantial infusion of funds to keep his insurance business solvent
and to maintain his personal lifestyle," the indictment says.
Additionally, Renzi and his second business partner, Andrew Beardall
of Rockville, Md., are accused of embezzling more than $400,000 in
insurance premiums in 2001 and 2002 to fund his first congressional
campaign.
All three men are to appear in court in Tucson on March 6.
"Public corruption creates a cynicism for government and unfairly
stains legions of honest public servants," Assistant Attorney General
Alice S. Fisher said in a news release. "These charges represent
allegations that Congressman Renzi defrauded the public of his
unbiased, honest services as an elected official."
Renzi is a co-chairman in Arizona for GOP presidential front-runner
Sen. John McCain's campaign. McCain seemed surprised when asked in
Indianapolis for his reaction to the indictment, choosing his words
carefully, shaking his head and speaking slowly.
"I'm sorry. I feel for the family; as you know, he has 12 children,"
McCain told reporters on the presidential campaign trail. "But I don't
know enough of the details to make a judgment. These kinds of things
are always very unfortunate. ... I rely on our Department of Justice
and system of justice to make the right outcome."
The land swap deal has dogged Renzi more than a year.
The indictment says Renzi refused in 2005 and 2006 to secure
congressional approval for land swaps by two unnamed businesses if
they did not agree to buy Sandlin's property as a part of the deal.
One of the businesses, seeking congressional approval for surface
rights for a copper mining project in Renzi's district, failed to buy
the land in early 2005. As a result, Renzi told the business, "No
Sandlin property, no bill," the indictment states.
Renzi had previously owned some of Sandlin's property, and concealed
his relationship with the real estate investor from the mining company
even when expressly asked. At the time, Sandlin owed $700,000 of the
$800,000 price tag on property Renzi sold him in Kingman, Ariz.
Meanwhile, authorities contend, Renzi pushed the land on a second
firm, an unnamed investment group, that was trying to secure a federal
land swap. If the firm accepted Sandlin's property as part of the
transaction, Renzi said investors would receive a "free pass" through
the House Natural Resources Committee, according to the indictment.
In April 2005, the investors reluctantly agreed to the deal.
"Please be sensitive to the fact that we are going way out on a limb
at the request of Congressman Renzi," one of the investors wrote in an
April 17, 2005 e-mail to a Renzi aide. "I am putting my complete faith
in Congressman Renzi and you that this is the correct decision."
The investment group agreed to pay $4.6 million for Sandlin's land,
the indictment says. Sandlin then paid Renzi $733,000 for his help in
securing the land swap from the second business.
Renzi failed to report the income on financial disclosure reports to
Congress, as is required.
Government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington applauded the Justice Department for holding Renzi
"accountable given that his House colleagues refused to do so." The
group has had Renzi on its "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" list for
the last three years.
"Bluster aside, this latest in a string of congressional indictments
demonstrates that Congress simply will not police itself," CREW
executive director Melanie Sloan said.
___
Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this
report.
==============================
Republicans will probably won't see a majority (in at least the House)
for another two generations.
sigh
-C-
extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes in an Arizona
land swap that authorities say helped him collect hundreds of
thousands of dollars in payoffs.
A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Tucson accuses Renzi and a
former business partner of extortion and conspiring to promote the
sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal
government.
Renzi, a three-term member of the House, announced in August that he
would not seek re-election. His lawyer said Friday he was not guilty.
"Congressman Renzi did nothing wrong. We will fight these charges
until he is vindicated and his family's name is restored," Renzi
attorney Kelly Kramer said in an e-mail message to The Associated
Press.
The grand jury accused Renzi of using his position as a member of the
House Natural Resources Committee to push the land swaps for business
partner James W. Sandlin, a real estate investor from Sherman, Texas.
The indictment comes after a lengthy federal investigation into the
land development and insurance businesses owned by Renzi's family.
Authorities allege Renzi and Sandlin concealed at least $733,000 that
the congressman took for helping seal the land deals. They are each
charged with 27 counts of wire fraud, extortion and money laundering,
and conspiracy connected to a transaction in Cochise County, Ariz.
"Renzi was having financial difficulty throughout 2005 and needed a
substantial infusion of funds to keep his insurance business solvent
and to maintain his personal lifestyle," the indictment says.
Additionally, Renzi and his second business partner, Andrew Beardall
of Rockville, Md., are accused of embezzling more than $400,000 in
insurance premiums in 2001 and 2002 to fund his first congressional
campaign.
All three men are to appear in court in Tucson on March 6.
"Public corruption creates a cynicism for government and unfairly
stains legions of honest public servants," Assistant Attorney General
Alice S. Fisher said in a news release. "These charges represent
allegations that Congressman Renzi defrauded the public of his
unbiased, honest services as an elected official."
Renzi is a co-chairman in Arizona for GOP presidential front-runner
Sen. John McCain's campaign. McCain seemed surprised when asked in
Indianapolis for his reaction to the indictment, choosing his words
carefully, shaking his head and speaking slowly.
"I'm sorry. I feel for the family; as you know, he has 12 children,"
McCain told reporters on the presidential campaign trail. "But I don't
know enough of the details to make a judgment. These kinds of things
are always very unfortunate. ... I rely on our Department of Justice
and system of justice to make the right outcome."
The land swap deal has dogged Renzi more than a year.
The indictment says Renzi refused in 2005 and 2006 to secure
congressional approval for land swaps by two unnamed businesses if
they did not agree to buy Sandlin's property as a part of the deal.
One of the businesses, seeking congressional approval for surface
rights for a copper mining project in Renzi's district, failed to buy
the land in early 2005. As a result, Renzi told the business, "No
Sandlin property, no bill," the indictment states.
Renzi had previously owned some of Sandlin's property, and concealed
his relationship with the real estate investor from the mining company
even when expressly asked. At the time, Sandlin owed $700,000 of the
$800,000 price tag on property Renzi sold him in Kingman, Ariz.
Meanwhile, authorities contend, Renzi pushed the land on a second
firm, an unnamed investment group, that was trying to secure a federal
land swap. If the firm accepted Sandlin's property as part of the
transaction, Renzi said investors would receive a "free pass" through
the House Natural Resources Committee, according to the indictment.
In April 2005, the investors reluctantly agreed to the deal.
"Please be sensitive to the fact that we are going way out on a limb
at the request of Congressman Renzi," one of the investors wrote in an
April 17, 2005 e-mail to a Renzi aide. "I am putting my complete faith
in Congressman Renzi and you that this is the correct decision."
The investment group agreed to pay $4.6 million for Sandlin's land,
the indictment says. Sandlin then paid Renzi $733,000 for his help in
securing the land swap from the second business.
Renzi failed to report the income on financial disclosure reports to
Congress, as is required.
Government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington applauded the Justice Department for holding Renzi
"accountable given that his House colleagues refused to do so." The
group has had Renzi on its "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" list for
the last three years.
"Bluster aside, this latest in a string of congressional indictments
demonstrates that Congress simply will not police itself," CREW
executive director Melanie Sloan said.
___
Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this
report.
==============================
Republicans will probably won't see a majority (in at least the House)
for another two generations.
sigh
-C-
