Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm Makes Court Appearance
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Prosecutors say the evidence against Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm, who is accused of evading taxes, includes thousands of emails.
Federal prosecutors told a federal judge in Brooklyn on Monday that the emails had been turned over to lawyers for Grimm.
The embattled Republican was charged last month in a 20-count indictment on mail, wire and tax fraud. The charges stemmed from an ongoing investigation of his campaign fundraising.
Grimm has denied any wrongdoing. The former FBI agent didn't speak to reporters as he left court on Monday.
EXTRA: Read The Full Indictment
The alleged fraud occurred from 2007 to 2010, when authorities said Grimm was one of the owners and the managing member of an Upper East fast-food restaurant called Healthalicious and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the restaurant.
Prosecutors said during that time, Grimm filed false state and federal tax returns to underreport more than $1 million in sales and wages by concealing gross receipts for cash purchases and paid workers hundreds of thousands of dollars off the books.
"Healthalicious was a small business, and it sold casual food, so many people used cash, and it was this cash that Michael Grimm exploited, making over $1 million simply disappear," United States Attorney Loretta Lynch said last month. "Grimm took the cash from the register, used part of it to pay the workers off the books, never reporting it to the taxing authorities."
Grimm was elected in 2010 and took office in 2011.
For two years, investigators had been examining his fundraising in the 2010 race and his involvement in the restaurant. A House Ethics Committee announced in November that Grimm was under investigation for possible campaign finance violations.
"From the beginning, the government has pursued a politically driven vendetta against Congressman Grimm and not an independent search for the truth," Grimm's attorney, William McGinley, said in a statement last month. "Congressman Grimm asserts his innocence of any wrongdoing."
After the House Ethics Committee announced last fall that Grimm was under investigation, the panel said it would defer its inquiry because of a separate Department of Justice investigation.
Over the weekend, Grimm held a rally with supporters in his district.
The Staten Island Advance reported Saturday that Grimm didn't directly address the charges against him during the "March for Justice for Congressman Michael Grimm'' event, but told the crowd "I'm still here, baby!''
Grimm, who free on $400,000 bond, has vowed to stay in office and run for re-election in November. He has called the fraud allegations a "political witch hunt" designed to "assassinate my character and remove me from office."
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