Michael Grimm, Republican congressman, to resign after tax plea

U.S. Representative Michael Grimm of New York, who pleaded guilty last week to a federal felony tax charge, will resign his seat on Jan. 5 because he does not feel he can be completely effective in Congress, he said on Monday.

"After much thought and prayer, I have made the very difficult decision to step down from Congress effective January 5th, 2015," Grimm said in a statement provided by a spokesman.

"The events which led to this day did not break my spirit, nor the will of the voters. However, I do not believe that I can continue to be 100 [per cent] effective in the next Congress."

Grimm, a Republican, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Dec. 23 to aiding the preparation of a false tax return in connection with a health food restaurant, Healthalicious, that he co-owned before his political career.

Grimm had said earlier he would not resign from Congress: "As long as I'm able to serve, I'm going to."

As part of a plea deal, Grimm also signed a statement of facts, admitting to concealing over $900,000 US in gross receipts from 2007 to 2010 and lying during a 2013 deposition.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner had not publicly called for Grimm's resignation, but House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi last week said the Republican leadership must "must insist that Congressman Grimm resign immediately."

The 44-year-old former Marine and FBI agent easily won a third term in office in November. His resignation will set up a 2015 battle for his House seat, which covers parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn, as Republicans take full control of Congress next year.

Boehner met privately with Grimm on Monday about his future, sources told the Washington Post and Politico.

Though Boehner could not have prevented Grimm from being sworn in next month, he could ask the Ethics Committee for his expulsion, Politico reported.

Grimm faces a maximum of three years in prison when he is sentenced on June 8.

Majority whip denies knowing ideology of group he spoke to

Meanwhile, Steve Scalise, majority whip in the House of Representatives, was not aware that the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) were white nationalists when he attended their 2002 event in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, his spokesman Moira Bagley told the Washington Post on Monday.

Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave a speech at the conference.

EURO was founded in 2000 by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and ran a high-profile race for governor in 1991.

Responding to the report, Scalise told the Times-Picayune newspaper on Monday he had no involvement with the group and does not recall speaking at the event.

"I didn't know who all of these groups were and I detest any kind of hate group. For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous," Scalise said.

He also said he spoke with many during that period, including the League of Women Voters, a group the Republican described as "liberal."

"I still went and spoke to them. I spoke to any group that called," he said.

Scalise attended the EURO event to build support for his efforts to eliminate political slush funds and to oppose increased taxes on the middle class, Bagley said, according to the Post.

"The hate-fuelled ignorance and intolerance that group projects is in stark contradiction to what Mr Scalise believes and practices as a father, a husband, and a devoted Catholic," she said, according to the newspaper.

Erick Erickson, a prominent conservative blogger, expressed skepticism that Scalise was unaware of EURO's agenda at the time of the conference.

"How the hell does somebody show up at a David Duke organized event in 2002 and claim ignorance?" Erickson wrote on his RedState blog.

Scalise's appearance at the event was first reported on Sunday by Louisiana politics blogger Lamar White Jr.