New Details in the Investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Posted by Stephanie Taylor on April 25, 2007 at 10:46 AM
Last week, we reported that the FBI raided the business of Roberta Renzi, wife of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), who is under investigation for corruption charges. Now there are new details about the business deals that led to the federal grand jury probe.
Part of the investigation centers around a 480-acre parcel of Cochise County farmland once owned by a former Renzi business partner, James Sandlin. On two occasions, Renzi actively used his position as a member of Congress to get the property sold. From the Arizona Republic:
“The first attempt involved a copper-mining partnership called the Resolution Copper Co. Renzi told the company he would support a land trade sought by Resolution if it would agree to buy the 480-acre parcel as well. He described the deal as vital to the nearby San Carlos River watershed. The officers of Resolution balked.
Not only did they balk, the president of the company at that time went to extraordinary lengths to document what Renzi told him: He wrote a letter to himself detailing their negotiations so that he would have postmarked evidence. That letter now is a part of the FBI’s investigation.”
Renzi didn’t stop there. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, he played a role in arranging the eventual sale of the Cochise County land to a group of preservationists for nearly $4 million in April 2005. At the time, he described the sale of the land as a “matter of national security.” The sale netted a $3 million profit for the property’s owner, James Sandlin, who had bought the land just two years before.
But the most damning evidence of Renzi’s interest in the sale is the action of Sandlin, his business partner. On the day he received his first payment for the land, Sandlin paid a $200,000 debt to a wine company owned by Renzi.
Meanwhile, from the Wall Street Journal today, new questions about whether the corruption investigation of Rep. Renzi is linked to the untimely firing of U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton:
“As midterm elections approached last November, federal investigators in Arizona faced unexpected obstacles in getting needed Justice Department approvals to advance a corruption investigation of Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, people close to the case said.
The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations."
Rep. Renzi is one of two Republican congressmen who recently faced raids by the FBI. The other is Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), who is under investigation for his ties to convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Comments (19) «
Stephanie....Republican criminality is so widespread that it is mind boggling. The only thing we can do is prosecute those we catch and vote the rest out of office.
Stephanie,..your post was solid reporting...thank you
Thanks, goodfoe! Personally, I'm bewildered that the mainstream media isn't talking about this story more. Hopefully that will change soon--if enough of us keep talking about it at the grassroots.
How many more Republican congresssmen are going to resign in disgrace?
If we had a DOJ operating freely to go after corruption, we'd have to build a new wing onto Leavenworth to house them all. What a chain gang experience that would be.
And why is DeLay still walking around free? Let him hawk is new book from the slammer where he belongs. What happened to his trial?
Stephanie.....If you want to look into things, I have some questions about one little thing in a sea of criminality, who manufactured the concrete slabs for the wall in Baghdad?..Was it Iraqi laborers employed at $2.00 per day by Hallaburton?(sp?)...How much were the taxpayers billed for the wall? ...Did the bill go "cost Plus" for both labor and materials? Did the labor portion of the bill include charges for erection of the wall. If so, fraud was again committed because the U.S. military was used to construct the wall at night. This is the kind of situation where the contractor might feel it would be very easy to steal some more of the taxpayers money with out it being noticed...Those young Republicans that swore their loyalty oath to Bush that were put in charge of reconstruction over there wouldn't know the difference and if they did, they wouldn't care.... would just one more little thing in a sea of criminality...Keep up the good work!
Yeah! Leavenworth Kansas, the NEW West Wing of the White House! Hoooah!!!!
INVESTIGATE! IMPEACH!!! INDICT!!!!!
On and on it goes!Where it stops?
That's a good question about the wall. It's true, there is a lot to investigate. Speaking of which, it was good to see the congressional committees issuing subpoenas to Condoleezza Rice and Monica Goodling today.
Amen to that Stephanie, it's going to be great to watch these people squirm!
The Democratic party must be getting desperate. Do you know how much land costs here in AZ?
If Mr Renzi sold 480 Acres for a mere 4 million, heck that's cheap. 6 Acres is going for $296,000 here in PV, AZ.
You complain about people/republicans not doing for the environment, well Renzi sold his property for a preserve. What gives with you bipolar people????!!!!
Billary Clinton's used their powers to have people fired and murdered along with giving the Chinese a top secrete aircraft!!!!
The big C,Clinton made money on an inside trade in the stock market in cattle and they charge the federal government for protection for them, by renting out a spare house on their That is the mortgage on the million + property in stinkville NY.
You people are immature and
anti-freedom/anti American. You want to talk about corrupt!!!!!!!!! Look in the mirror!
goodfoe,
You strike; you score...again. Leave it to you to cut right to the chase.
That Wall (and all the rest of them around Baghdad that the Pentagon forgot to tell us about, but the Iraqis let slip out in their latest press conference) is synonymous with the graft that piles up whenever you allow no-bid contractors.
Now multiply that by all the other "rebuilding" projects the Pentagon has started in the last four years. Isn't it funny how all you ever see on the tube when the latest General in Charge takes reporters for a stroll in the market are incomplete buildings with shoddy workmanship...and a bunch of unemployed Iraqis driving around shooting at anything that moves too slow?
And I love how they are using inexperienced kids from bible colleges as their bean counters. One for the lord, one for Mr. Cheney. None for the Iraqis, none for the American taxpayers.
I suppose all these Christian Bureaucrats for Democracy in Iraq will someday be the fall guys when we get around to investigating this side of the war profiteering story. They can continue their missionary work behind bars with the rest of the former GOP Congressional crooks.
I feel so privileged that I’m at a point in my life that I can fully take time to watch and wonder at what must be the biggest scam in the history of colonial imperialism. Nobody does it better than Cheney.
Thanks for the kind words SandyH, but you always say the rest of what I'm feeling and thinking better than I could. I hope you put your post here over at the regular thread. If I knew how to do it, I would. You really should shares those thoughts with all....
You got a point there, StarryEyes: If that Arizona land didn't sell at $296K it must have really been a bunch of crud. No wonder he had to use political influence to get rid of it.
It must have been more polluted than the Berkley Pit.
Renzi will be stepping down good riddance.
hee hee hee, It always has to come back to Bill Clinton, doesn't it? Because the Republicans have ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, NOTHING, good to talk about with any of their politicians, it has to come back to try and smear Bill.
These sore losers are in for a bigger grief in 18 months, when the Democrats take it ALL over.
Interesting I would like to understand more.
So many fall guys that were dirty are now coming into their own or tring to hide.The question most of america is asking "When will the Bush-Cheney act be called to appear in front of congress to answer for the RAPING of the American citizens and their lands for the sake of big oil,lumber,mining and big business such as Walmart.OR WILL THEY WALK?
So many fall guys that were dirty are now coming into their own or tring to hide.The question most of america is asking "When will the Bush-Cheney act be called to appear in front of congress to answer for the RAPING of the American citizens and their lands for the sake of big oil,lumber,mining and big business such as Walmart.OR WILL THEY WALK?
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