Metro

In Michael Grimm, the surprising rise of a nobody

House Republican leaders are pulling the plug on Rep. Michael Grimm’s reelection campaign, cutting off cash infusions from the national party’s main campaign committee to the embattled Staten Island lawmaker.

Without the campaign cash from DC, Grimm is effectively on his own as he works to win reelection in a competitive district while under federal indictment for tax fraud, obstruction, and perjury.

“As long as these legal issues are playing out there we’re going to hold off,” National Republican Campaign Committee chair Greg Walden (R-Ore.) told the Post.

“That’s our analysis this day and time. We have to look where we can go win seats.”

Walden, whose main job is to keep Republicans in the House majority, said the GOP doesn’t have an “unlimited checkbook,” and said it was up to Grimm to prove his innocence in court and to voters in his district.

“In any race certain dynamics occur cause you to reevaluate. And certainly a 20-count indictment causes you to reevaluate,” Walden added.

House Speaker John Boehner isn’t offering Grimm much public support, although Grimm told reporters the speaker hasn’t asked him to resign.

“I think all members should be held to the highest ethical standards,” Boehner said Tuesday

“Mr. Grimm is under indictment. He resigned from his committee assignment and I think he made the right decision,” he said.