Embattled Republican Rep. Michael Grimm was officially banned from ever setting foot in the New York field offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2006—and he apparently remains banned to this day.
After Grimm, 44, resigned his job as an FBI agent in 2006, security personnel with guns placed Grimm’s photo prominently at security checkpoints inside an FBI headquarters in Lower Manhattan and a satellite office in Queens, reports DNAinfo New York.
The security officers had orders to stop the now-sitting House member if he ever showed his face on the premises. They were told to contact their bosses immediately to determine what steps to take next.
The Congressman’s mug is apparently still emblazoned on a wall along with a couple dozen former federal gumshoes and other federal employees who somehow ran so afoul of the rules they can never come back, not even for a visit.
“They are all employees who were fired, or they were under circumstances where they were forced out or felt they should leave, and all are no longer welcome back,” a former FBI official declared, according to DNAinfo.
“He is not welcome,” the official added.
The former official also noted that he wasn’t sure why Grimm’s photo has stayed up for eight or so years.
“Some of us thought it was kind of a joke after he was elected to Congress that his picture stayed up.”
A spokesman in Grimm’s congressional officers said Grimm had no idea he had been banned from two FBI offices.
“False rumors and malicious lies relating to the congressman’s tenure in the FBI have been reported on since 2010 and have been repeatedly refuted,” the spokesman told DNAinfo.
Grimm, an attorney who served as a Marine in the 1992 Gulf War, said he left the FBI – where he worked undercover – because he had planned to be married and have children.
Grimm’s record as an undercover G-Man is nothing if not interesting.
He infiltrated the Gambino Crime Family and obtained evidence against Peter “One Eyed Pete” Gotti, the brother of John Gotti, “the Teflon Don.”
Gangsters reported took to calling the congressman “Mickey Suits” because he was always wearing fancy, flamboyant clothing.
Grimm also spent two years pretending to be a corrupt currency trader as part of “Operation Wooden Nickel,” a sting that took down some 50 white-collar criminals.
There were allegations of misdeeds during Grimm’s tenure as an undercover FBI agent, though. For example, he allegedly told a woman he was working undercover, which is a no-no. He also came under scrutiny for submitting questionable expense reports related to his undercover work.
Back in 2011, news came out that Grimm was investigated for an ugly episode at a New York night club in 1999 while he worked undercover. A retired NYPD officer and other witnesses say he threatened the estranged husband of his date and held patrons against a wall while holding a gun. (RELATED: Freshman Rep. has checkered past as undercover FBI agent)
It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad few weeks for Grimm, who was elected to Congress in 2011 and represents Staten Island and sections of Brooklyn in New York’s 11th congressional district.
In February, he threatened to throw a New York television reporter off a balcony after President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Then, just last week, a federal grand jury hit the Congressman with a 20-count indictment alleging that he evaded taxes, illegally hired low-wage illegal immigrants and improperly concealed $1 million in revenue at a restaurant he once owned on Manhattan’s Upper East Side called Healthalicious. (RELATED: GOP Rep. Grimm Hired Illegals, Backed Amnesty)
Grimm denied the account and said he was exonerated by the investigation.
He has vigorously denied any illegal behavior in the multitude of allegations against him and he plans to run for re-election later this year to keep his congressional seat.
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