Democratic Representative Chaka Fattah and four of his associates were hit with a 29-count indictment on Wednesday. The charges include bribery, participating in a racketeering conspiracy, accepting illegal contributions, mail fraud, stealing charitable funds, and falsification of records. The Philadelphia politician has served in the House since 1995. “I can tell you that the conduct that Congressman Fattah engaged in undermines public faith in government, undermines confidence in government, that the behavior is something that our public does not expect their public officials to engage in,” Zane David Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said at a press conference today. Fattah stepped down from his position as ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Science and Justice, which, as National Journal notes, “determines funding levels for the FBI and the prosecutors who have indicted” him. Shortly after the news broke, the member of Congress told reporters, “this is not Deflategate” and that he’s “never been involved in any wrongdoing.”
