McCain’s AZ Co-Chair Rick Renzi Indicted: This time, It Wasn’t For Toilet Sex

The Huffington Post has reported less than an hour ago, Arizona Congress- man Rick Renzi has been indicted for extortion, money laundering, wire fraud among others. Congressman Renzi (R-AZ) also serves as the Arizona co-chair for John McCain’s campaign for President of the United States.

Says the Huffington Post:

The charges boil down to this, basically. Renzi is charged with doing everything he can as a congressman to strong-arm others into buying land from his buddy James Sandlin — Sandlin then allegedly kicked back sizable chunks of cash back to Renzi in a series of complicated financial transactions (thus the money laundering charge). The main details of these charges were reported by the Arizona papers and The Wall Street Journal last year.

The entire indictment can be read here.

Renzi stepped down from his position on the House Intelligence Committee on April 20th in 2007 after his business and house was raided by the FBI and several documents were removed. Said the Congressman when he had heard about the raid:

“Today, the FBI came to my family’s business to obtain documents related to their investigation,” Renzi said. “I view these actions as the first step in bringing out the truth. Until this matter is resolved, I will take a leave of absence from the House Intelligence Committee. I intend to fully cooperate with this investigation.”

Senator McCain, apathetically decided Congressman Renzi was still the best crook man to chair his presidential campaign anyway and made him a co-chair in his home state of Arizona.

This news comes on the heels of just two days ago when it was implied by the New York Times that Senator McCain had an unsually, and perhaps a sexual relationship, with the powerful telecom lobbyist, Vicki Iseman.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

Senator McCain denied the charges and his staff whined about “the liberal press”.

In July of 2007, Senator McCain’s Florida campaign co-chair, state representative Bob Allen (R-FL), was arrested for solicitation of sex in a men’s public restroom in Titusville, FL where he was offering $20.00 for the opportunity to perform the sex act.

Allen was considered to be acting suspicious by police as he entered and exited the men’s room three times, according to a Titusville Police report. Moments later, he approached the plainclothes officer and offered to perform oral sex for $20, police said.

Bob Allen, a long time champion of Anti-Gay Rights in Florida plead not guilty, paid the $500 bail and then said to the press:

“I am filing a not guilty plea. I am vigorously going to fight this,” he said. “I am not resigning my office, because the people elected me [and] want me to do a good job and I am going to do a good job for them in finishing this term. ..

Representative Allen’s arrested record can be found by clicking here.

Allen’s rational, when he was arrested, stated that he made the offer because:

In describing an incident where he was arrested for soliciting prostitution, the representative commented that he was afraid a “stocky black man” was going to rob him.

Meaning of course; “If you’re in the public toilet and a “stocky black man” comes in, you should offer to perform oral sex on him and give him a twenty-dollar bill as a bribe in exchange for your life, or at a minimum – your wallet.” Lest we all forget, this man proudly promoted anti-gay legislation and championed the idea that GLBT citizens lacked good “American family values”. Representative Allen later apologized rather stupidly to the Florida NAACP by saying:

“Are you ducking into a class warfare, race warfare scenario? Are you trying to pit the two together? If that sensitivity has been crossed that’s defiantly something I’d apologize for,” Allen said.

During the trial, the jury was taken to the Titusville park where he was arrested and were given a tour of the mens room before they found him guilty. Which is interesting, because he didn’t offer any of the jury members twenty dollars to suck their members during the tour.

This breaking news about Rick Renzi comes only a week after it was revealed that state delegate Robert A. McKee (R-MD) had his Hagarstown home searched by the FBI where they found child pornography. No word has come in on whether or not McKee had anything to do with John McCain’s presidential campaign in Maryland. But of course, I never even bothered to try to find out. It’s an easy assumption that he did.