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Subpoenaed Lobbyist Tosses Blackberry and Court Docs in Weldon Corruption Probe
Cecelia Grimes, the lobbyist and "very good friend" of former Rep. Curt Weldon, has been charged with destroying evidence relating to the federal investigation of the former Pennsylvania congressman.
According to the court documents filed today, Grimes "placed her Blackberry device in a trash can near an Arby's restaurant in Southeastern Pennsylvania. . . for the purpose of keeping the FBI from reviewing certain of her emails."
But apparently Grimes creative disposal of evidence only extended to fast-food restaurants.
She also tossed the grand-jury subpoenas, Amtrak receipts, American airline boarding passes, and fourteen RSVP cards for a dinner honoring Weldon, which call for responses to be sent to Grimes. The FBI "surreptitiously retrieved" the garbage bags containing the documents from the trash cans next to Grimes' house.
[Late Update]: In October, 2006, it was revealed that Weldon was under federal investigation for his alleged nepotism activities, notably his lucrative arrangements for his daughter. He lost re-election that November, and has since been working as a Chief Strategic Officer for Defense Solutions-- an organization that has also come under media scrutiny for its shady arms deals.
Cecelia Grimes has been tied to Curt Weldon's investigation before. Back in 2004, Ken Silverstein reported that Curt's family had an uncanny ability to get hired by large defense companies.
In January 2006, Silverstein reported that Weldon's ties also seemed to extend to more than just family-- also helping, his close friend Cecelia Grimes. Grimes was realtor turned lobbyist at Grimes and Young, a small lobbyist firm comprised of only herself and Cynthia Young. Curiously, Young is the daughter-in-law of Rep. Bill Young (R-FL).
According to Silverstein's piece, Grimes was retained by Oto Melara, a subsidary of an Italian defense firm with a $20,000 annual retainer. Weldon had previously championed the causes of Finmeccanica, Oto Merelara's parent company, in legislation before the House Armed Services Committee, on which he used to be vice-chair.
Josh
Zachary
I certainly hope they rescued the Blackberry (or "Blackberry device").
July 15, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
This guy used to be our Rep. The man was garbage. He actually ignored an entire county in his district for over twenty years because he didn't need them to win; the long goodbye was a beautiful one for Curt when it was revealed he was being investigated, that his daughter had shady ties to Russian oil rings, and when he lost it on '60 Minutes' over a bill on pork barrel spending. Anything that makes this guy's life more painful is karma at work.
July 15, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
If only we could arrange things so that the only jobs these guys could get were working cleanup, cash registers, and/or restocking at Wal*Mart....
July 15, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think anyone ever believed the story about real estate agent, Cecelia Grimes, coaching one of Weldon's kids in soccer and handling the purchase of his house in Upper Darby.
Grimes is a fortyish, attractive blonde. She had to be the girlfriend. Why else would Weldon let her "lobby" him? In the late '90s, Grimes was appointed to a state real estate commission so she was definitely politically connected.
Firm A in the indictment must be Grimes & Young, now known as the Center Hill Group. Firm B is probably CC Nexus LLC, registered in Delaware in 10/02, one month after Weldon's daughter registered Solutions North America.
All this time, I was convinced that the "CC" in CC Nexus stood for Cecelia and Cindy but now I think it stood for Curt and Cecelia. Precious.
Dynamic Defense Materials, a Grimes client, appointed Weldon as its vice-chairman last year.
The other big Weldon story this week is the surpise resignation of USA ED-PA Patrick Meehan. Meehan is a former Delaware County prosecutor who was appointed USA in 2001 by GWB.
Meehan gained a reputation for prosecuting political corruption cases in Philadelphia but he only went after Dems.
My guess is that Meehan stonewalled the Weldon investigation or otherwise hampered it. In 12/06, Meehan met with AG Gonzales in the basement of the Delco courthouse, supposedly in connection with an internet safety program. I bet the meeting had something to do with the Weldon investigation.
July 16, 2008 2:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Per FEC records:
9/10/04 - Cecilia Grimes, listed as an executive executive with Galaxy Scientific, contributed $500 to Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ)campaign, Andrews For Congress.
9/10/04 - Cynthia Young, listed as an executive with Galaxy Scientific, contributed $500 to Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) campaign, Andrews For Congress.
I was told that Grimes and Young attended an Andrews fundraiser and they were mistakenly listed as Galaxy Scientific execs. Someone should check to see whether there was a fundraiser for Andrews that day because there were no contributions other than ones from GS employees on 9/10/04.
In 2005, Galaxy Scientific was bought by SRA International, the firm that paid for Weldon's 2004 trip to London where he met with Gaddafi's son. Ken Silverstein thinks that Grimes might have been on that trip.
Cindy Young's husband, Robert, Rep Bill Young's son, attends Widener U. in PA. I've long thought that the FBI should check that Young is paying his own tuition.
Widener U. just just happened to get a $461k NASA grant in 10/04.
July 16, 2008 8:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
How did they find it in the Arby's trash? Were they following her?
April 6, 2009 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink