A federal grand jury has indicted Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah and four other individuals on a slew of criminal charges related to a long-running probe into his 2007 campaign for mayor of Philadelphia.
Fattah, who was first elected to the House in 1994, has been charged with bribery, racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud, mail and wire fraud, and filing false statements. The 58-year-old congressman faces as long as 30 years in prison.
Fattah has been the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee panel that oversees funding for the Justice Department and other federal agencies. He has now stepped down from that post, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
Of course the Democrats would put a guy with money laundering and racketeering skills on the Appropriations Committee. Heck, it’s probably a prerequisite for even being considered.
Rather than comment on the overwhelming scope of the charges, Grandma Nan Pelosi could only belch up tired Democrat talking points:
“Congressman Fattah has been a tireless and effective advocate for America’s hard-working families across more than 20 years of distinguished service in the House,” she said in a statement.
When he isn’t ripping those hard-working families off through a fake charity he set up, that is.
At least the congressman has a strong sense of family and tries to pass along what he’s learned to his son:
Wednesday’s indictment comes almost a year after his son, Chaka Fattah, Jr., was charged with bank fraud theft. The younger Fattah also faces charges of filing false tax returns. He allegedly stole government money slated for city schools to pay personal expenses.
The government we deserve, indeed.
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