In the wake of the arrest of New York Representative Michael Grimm by federal authorities, Roll Call reported that the embattled politician is set to meet with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Wednesday in the nation's capital. It was thought that Cantor will not be asking Grim to resign, but rather to discuss about his standing in the GOP leadership as Grimm has expressed his insistence to continue with his reelection campaign, silive.com said.
Grimm was charged with 20 counts of tax and fraud-related charges stemming from the operations of a Manhattan restaurant he owned and operated prior to his career in Washington. The filing was done by the US Attorney's Office on Monday.
The online news blog said Cantor's approach with Grimm was different than this approach with Representative Vance McAllister, the married politician and father of five who was caught on tape kissing his also married staffer. Cantor had asked McAllister to resign in the wake of the "kissing scandal."
On the other hand, state GOP chairman Edward Cox is reportedly not as accommodating as Cantor with Grimm. Telling the Wall Street Journal, Cox said about the party's representative for the New York congressional seat, "I'm not saying it's gotta be Michael Grimm, but to have a Republican in Congress from New York City is really important."
This was a complete turnaround from his comments about Grimm a few days before the latter's indictment broke. When he told Advance last week at a fundraiser for Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, Cx was already betting on Grimm to secure a congressional seat. He said, "He's just a great member of Congress and I think he's going to win again here by a very good margin. Anyone who survived 2012, which was a tough year for us, will do very well in the upcoming year."
