Top Democrats Say Renzi Should Step Down -- Now

28 Feb 2008 // Indicted Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi should resign his U.S. House seat immediately, Gov. Janet Napolitano and the head of the Arizona Democratic Party said Wednesday.

Noting that Renzi, a Republican, said last week that he will stay in office and fight to remove the ``cloak of guilt" over his service, the Democratic governor said, ``If he wants to remove the cloak of guilt, I think it's going to take his full-time effort. And, if it's going to take his full-time effort, then he needs to resign."

Renzi had announced he would not seek re-election to the District 1 seat last August, before he was indicted by a federal grand jury on 35 counts involving land deals.

``At a certain point, the people who live in his district are entitled to have a full-time working congressman," Napolitano said.

Maria Weeg, executive director of the state Democratic Party, joined the governor in calling for Renzi to step down now. Weeg said the issue is not Renzi's guilt or innocence.

``The issue is whether or not he can focus while going through a trial on 35 counts of embezzlement, extortion and wire fraud."

She said Renzi is a pariah in his party ``and yet he insists on squatting in this seat for no other reason apparently than his own personal ego."

Weeg added, ``He needs to resign and he needs to resign now so the citizens of District 1 have good, solid representation for the next nine months."

Weeg called Renzi ``the newest poster child for what people are frustreated with, which is this Republican culture of corruption."

Renzi, 49, first elected to Congress in 2000, faces an initial court appearance next week in Tucson.

The indictment alleges that Renzi misused his public office by forcing a land sale that would financially benefit himself and a business associate, James W. Sandlin of Sherman, Texas. Sandlin and another Renzi business associate, Andrew Beardall of Rockville, Md., also were indicted. Aside from the land deal, Renzi was charged with illegally skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from a closely held insurance firm he owned.

Renzi, a former real estate investor and insurance executive, has operated under a cloud of suspicion almost since his election to Congress in 2002. He was fined by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations in connection with his first campaign for Congress. A Washington-based watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has included Renzi on its list of "most corrupt" Congress members for several years.

If Renzi should resign before the current House session ends in May, Napolitano would appoint a successor, which would have to be a Republican to his seat. If he does not resign until Congress adjourns, his seat would be left open until the November election.