Representative Mike Grimm of Staten Island has campaigned hard for Mitt Romney. He stood in for Romney in New Hampshire. He defended Romney when the candidate said that he liked firing people. And now, Mitt Romney’s campaign is giving the pink slip to Grimm, reports the Times.
[On] Thursday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney’s national campaign, Andrea Saul, indicated that Mr. Grimm would no longer play such a role in the campaign.
Ms. Saul declined to provide a reason, but the move came on the same day that The New York Times published an article detailing how Mr. Grimm had engaged in questionable business practices involving his real estate and restaurant ventures.
Last month, The Times reported that the lead fund-raiser during Mr. Grimm’s successful 2010 campaign was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Some donors said Mr. Grimm and the fund-raiser had made it clear that they would accept illegal donations.
Grimm and his supporters are loath to let go of the Romney connection — running in a tough swing district, and now besieged by scandal, association with the national front-runner looked like the one bright spot. For instance, Guy Molinari, Romney’s state chair and an important figure in the Grimm camp, refused to accept the Times’ reporting on the Romney campaign’s snub.
“I think she didn’t know what’s happening,” he said. “They’re some distance removed from the real world.” Which, as it happens, is actually the exact same thing Romney’s opponents like to argue. So if Grimm and Molinari decide to turn on Romney after his rejection, they’ve got the talking points down already.
