Representative Michael G. Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island. Credit John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Michael G. Grimm, the Republican Party’s lone congressional representative in New York City, announced late Monday night that he would resign effective Jan. 5, two weeks after he pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion.
The decision to call it quits by Mr. Grimm, of Staten Island — perhaps best known for threatening to break a reporter in half and throw him off a Capitol Hill balcony — came after a conversation on Monday with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, which a person close to the speaker confirmed. In a statement released by Mr. Grimm’s office just before midnight, he said, “I do not believe that I can continue to be 100 percent effective in the next Congress, and therefore, out of respect for the Office and the people I so proudly represent, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life.â€
Mr. Boehner appears to have done what a midterm election, constant ridicule in the news media and a guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn could not: persuade Mr. Grimm to go away.
The decision, reported by The Daily News earlier Monday night, is an about-face for Mr. Grimm, a former F.B.I. agent. Minutes after pleading guilty last week for underreporting his employees’ wages during a previous iteration as owner of the Manhattan restaurant Healthalicious, and admitting culpability, as part of his plea deal, to all the charges in a 20-count indictment that haunted him throughout his re-election campaign, Mr. Grimm told clamoring reporters he would “absolutely not†resign.
But Mr. Grimm’s mind apparently changed after speaking with Mr. Boehner. House rules dictate that a member convicted of a crime for which a prison sentence of two years or more may be imposed should not participate in committee meetings or vote on the floor until winning re-election. The stricture could have left Mr. Grimm’s 11th district effectively disenfranchised until 2016.
Mr. Grimm, 44, is expected to seek probation for tax evasion, despite sentencing guidelines that recommend as much as three years in prison. Judge Pamela K. Chen of United States District Court in Brooklyn made it clear in court that she would not be bound by the guidelines during Mr. Grimm’s sentencing, set for June 8. And federal prosecutors did not renounce other potential investigations into Mr. Grimm’s alleged campaign finance violations as part of his plea. But they will no longer be his political party’s problems.
(Mr. Boehner, who has sought to clean up his party’s reputations as Republicans prepare to take over both chambers, had a new headache to consider when the House majority whip, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, acknowledged on Monday that he had addressed a gathering of white supremacist leaders in 2002.)
As for Staten Island Republicans, their thoughts have already turned to electing Mr. Grimm’s replacement when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, calls a special election to fill the seat. The top contenders are expected to include the Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., though his star has dimmed since a grand jury failed to hand up an indictment of police officers in connection with the politically and racially explosive death of Eric Garner, who died in July after a police officer trying to arrest him placed him in a chokehold. Other names that have surfaced include Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and State Senator Andrew J. Lanza.
Democrats, who saw their last candidate, Domenic Recchia, falter badly during the fall and lose to Mr. Grimm, whose district includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, are expected to look to former Representative Michael E. McMahon and Assemblyman Michael J. Cusick. In the run-up to the last election, Representative Steve Israel of Long Island, who was tasked with winning House seats for the Democrats, approached both of them. And they both passed.
Whoever takes Mr. Grimm’s seat will be unlikely to match his track record as a source of national fascination, or satire. A tough-talking politician with a clenched jaw and an intense stare, a fondness for dark-tailored suits and Brooklyn wine bars, Mr. Grimm brought with him a reputation for controversy, including the time — back in his law enforcement days — when he reportedly waved a gun around a Queens nightclub. He carried himself with a bravado that was on display until the end.
“As I said before, as long as I am able to serve I’m going to serve,†he said after his court appearance last week. “As of right now, I’m still in a capacity to serve, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.â€
An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of a restaurant that Michael G. Grimm owned. It was Healthalicious, not Healthilicious.
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