Pursuant to Committee Rule 7(g) and 17A(j), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics (Committee) determined on June 25, 2014, to release the following statement:
On April 9, 2014, the Committee received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding whether Representative Michael Grimm may have violated House Rules or law by threatening a reporter following the 2014 State of the Union address.
The Department of Justice has asked the Committee to defer consideration of this matter and the Committee, following precedent, unanimously voted on June 18, 2014, to defer consideration of this matter at this time. Pursuant to Committee Rule 17A(h)(1), the Committee is making the OCE’s Report in this matter public. At least annually, the Committee will make a public statement if it continues to defer taking action on the matter. The Committee notes that the mere fact of its decision to defer action on this matter, and any mandatory disclosure of that decision and the OCE’s Report, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.