The Republican congressman facing 20 counts of fraud and other charges relating to a restaurant business he owned and operated said Tuesday that he is taking his latest misfortune in stride.
"I’m holding up well," Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) told Geraldo Rivera on his WABC talk show. "Obviously it’s a horrific thing. I wouldn’t wish it on my enemies. But I’m doing rather well. One of the things that I try to do when I have a tough time with anything -- whatever it may be -- is just look at someone else’s situation. Here in Staten Island, look, I have people that have children that haven’t been back in their home for 18 months after Sandy. They lost every worldly possession."
Grimm, who has said he would not resign, stepped down from the House Financial Services Committee last week pending a legal resolution in federal court.
In the interview Tuesday morning, Grimm called himself "one of the luckiest members of Congress" and pivoted to attacking the Affordable Care Act ahead of what is likely to be a difficult reelection bid in November.
"I have people coming to me every day, coming to my office, with life-threatening diseases -- life-threatening diseases -- and they were dropped from their health care because of the Affordable Care Act," he claimed. "When you put it into perspective, I’m doing rather well. Obviously it’s unpleasant. But the big thing that I do is I just get right back to work."
Asked about the state of his internal campaign polling, Grimm promised to fight on.
"Listen, I’m going to fight these charges all the way and I’m going to win my election," he said. "This is not the first time I’ve had a lot on my plate."
The congressman threatened a reporter inquiring about the investigation after President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech earlier this year, telling NY1's Michael Scotto that he would "break" him in half.
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