Michael Grimm, Threatening to Throw a Reporter "Off This Fucking Balcony," Broke Some Ethics Rules

Anna Merlan

Rep. Michael Grimm, the congressman who represents New York's 11th District, is having a terrible year, much of which he can blame squarely on Michael Grimm. He kicked 2014 off with a bang, threatening in January to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto off a balcony after Scotto had the temerity to ask about those alleged campaign finance violations for which Grimm is under investigation by the FBI.

In case you've forgotten that particular golden moment in Congressional good decision-making, Scotto tried to ask Grimm about the allegations after the State of the Union address. Grimm refused to discuss them. Scotto turned back to the camera and told the NY1 viewing public that Grimm had refused to discuss them. And then, with surprising agility, Grimm bounded back into the frame, put his face and body very close to Scotto, and announced: "Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I'll throw you off this fucking balcony." After a bit of discussion with the clearly shocked reporter, he added, "No, no, you're not man enough, you're not man enough. I'll break you in half. Like a boy."

As it turns out, threatening to put reporters on the wrong sides of balconies, besides being a rather silly thing to do on television, is also against Congress's ethics rules. Yes! Congress has ethics rules, and sometimes, they even attempt to enforce them.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/06/michael_grimm_threatening_to_throw_a_reporter_off_this_fucking_balcony_broke_some_congressional_ethi.php