Rep. Renzi (AZ-R) expects to be indicted

Laura Rozen found this report at the end of an article by Chicago Tribune.

In 2005 House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was forced to resign while under investigation for his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. And Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) pleaded guilty to a felony and is serving a 30-month sentence for his dealings with Abramoff. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) recently said he would not run for re-election, privately telling his staff that he expects to be indicted for his ties to Abramoff.

Earlier posts on Rep. Rick Renzi can be found here:

• Arizona's Rep. Rick Renzi to Retire
  Washington Post, August 23, 2007


• Rep. Renzi was involved in the US attorney removals
  April 24, 2007


• Rep. Renzi (AZ - R) expected to resign as soon as today
  april 27, 2007


• Details on Rep. Renzi corruption.
  April 21, 2007.


• FBI raids personal business of Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi.
  April 20, 2007


• Rick RenziWikipedia on Rick Renzi.

Two things are particularly interesting about Rick Renzi's career. His father was a General at Fort Huachuca, AZ which is the home of the U.S. Army Intelligence School, and Rick Renzi's career for close to 20 years of service with the Department of Defense is a mystery.

From Wikipedia - Rick Renxi - Early life and education:

He attended high school in Annandale, Virginia before moving to Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, where his father, now-retired U.S. Army Major General Eugene Renzi, served at Fort Huachuca.

and also Wkipedia - Rick renzi - Career prior to Congress

Where Renzi lived and what he did in the 1986–1997 period is unclear. In a letter to the Arizona Daily Sun in July 2002, Renzi said "The only time I have not lived in Arizona is when I served our nation overseas on a Defense Department program, or when I entered law school at age 39" [which would be 1997 or 1998].[11] But according to an August 2002 Associated Press article, Renzi said that between college, starting in the late 1970s, and his return some 20 years later, he had lived in Flagstaff for only a total of seven years

These facts strongly suggest that Rick Renzi was a "Spook" (Intelligence operative) of some kind for much of his early career.

Since he was also politically active, working for Republican Senator Jon Kyl while he got his law degree, it seems reasonable to suspect that he was connected in some way with Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Republican ex-Representative from San Diego, CA and currently felon in federal prison.

Wikipedia also makes the point that "He has owned a $765,000 two-story, six-bedroom home on five acres there since 1991, according to Fairfax County, Virginia, property records."

A civil servant working for the DoD does not make enough money to buy a six-bedroom home worth $765,000, nor does an aide to a U.S. Senator. Where did the money come from?

There is more to Rick Renzi's resignation than just the Abramoff Investigation, but it is probably connected.