Chris Smith says that he wants to run on his record in Congress. Unfortunately, there are parts of his record that voters may find less than appealing.

Chris Smith donated $2,000 to the reelection campaign of corrupt Congressman Rick Renzi. He made the contribution on May 16, 2007, nearly a month after the FBI raided the Renzi family insurance business for additional evidence. ( Chris Smith, July Quarterly Disbursement Report)  

On April 19, 2007 the FBI raided the Renzi office as part of well known investigation into Renzi's role in a government land-swap. Renzi used his government position to influence the deal, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs.

Chris Smith cannot claim ignorance. Renzi's corruption was very public and forced him to resign from the House Intelligence Committee. The scandal generated national attention because Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez had previously fired the federal prosecutor who opened the investigation in 2006. Renzi has since been indicted on 35 counts of corruption. (Phoenix Business Journal, April 20, 2007 Washington Post, Feb 23, 2008)  

Why did Chris Smith feel it was important to give cash to an obviously corrupt Congressman? No other Member of Congress made such a show of solidarity. We know Smith went out of his way to show his support, because Renzi was the only campaign to receive a contribution from Smith during the reporting period.

"Chris Smith has the wrong priorities. Instead of focusing on high gas prices and our struggling economy, Chris Smith decided to spend time making a political contribution to a Congressman facing federal indictment on corruption charges." said Josh Zeitz Campaign Manager Steve D'Amico.

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Today, it was my plan to start focusing less on presidential diaries and more on Congressional races. But, thanks to John McCain, I have the opportunity to write a diary that focuses on a little of both. As we all know, the corrupt Rick Renzi is retiring to face a grand jusry, but it gets even better. McCain is doing his best to help Democrats win this seat According to the progressive blog Down With Tyranny! McCain has decided to endorse a candidate who used his ifluence to get his rapist son out of jail.

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Newly indicted GOP Rep. Rick Renzi (AZ-01) has stepped down as one of John McCain's Arizona co-chairs but is refusing to resign from congress before his term is up.

"I will not resign and take on the cloak of guilt because I am innocent," Renzi told FOX News. "My legal team of Reid Weingarten and Kelly Kramer will handle these legal issues while I continue to serve my constituents."

Renzi returned to his Capitol Hill office Monday evening for the first time since the 35-count indictment was issued Friday.

Renzi, a three-term congressmen, already said he would not seek re-election. In the sweeping indictment, federal authorities charged Renzi with a host of charges connected to a land-swap arrangement Renzi tried to execute in Arizona. His initial court appearance is scheduled for March 6.

Renzi's stubbornness is irking House Minority Leader John Boehner -- a paragon of strict standards for his colleagues if there ever was one (!) -- who has apparently been pressuring Renzi to step down since the indictment came down on Friday.

"I have made it clear that I will hold our Members to the highest standards of ethical conduct," Boehner said. "The charges contained in this indictment are completely unacceptable for a Member of Congress, and I strongly urge Rep. Renzi to seriously consider whether her can continue to effectively represent his constituents under these circumstances."

Sounds downright reasonable, doesn't he? The answer, of course, is that no, of course Renzi can't be a true representative of his constituents if he's fighting for his legal life, a point progressive Democratic AZ-01 challenger Howard Shanker made quite eloquently in his statement on the indictment on Friday:

It is unfortunate that Mr. Renzi has had to go through this protracted criminal investigation culminating to date in his federal indictment. It is, however, even more unfortunate that the people of Congressional District 1 have had to live in the shadow of Mr. Renzi's asserted dirty dealings for so long. Mr. Renzi, who previously withdrew from his committee assignments, has not been focused on helping his constituents, our Congressional District, or our Country, for almost a year. It is unfortunate that we can hold so little faith or trust in our elected representatives. It is time to fix this problem. It is time for Mr. Renzi to step down, so that his seat can be filled by a public servant who is dedicated to the honest and effective representation of the people of Congressional District 1 and this great Nation.

Howie has more on the Blue America-endorsed Shanker over at Down With Tyranny. The primary's not until September but he could use all the help he can get today.

Swing State Project lists this district as a PVI of R+2.2, which means this is going to be a top tier race, let's make sure we have the best candidate competing for the seat in November (more and better...) Check out Howard Shanker's website HERE.

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Rick Renzi indicted for Fraud & Extortion:

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Republican Congressman and McCain ally Rick Renzi has been indicted on multiple corruption counts, Nader's thinking about running again, foreign policy matters again in Serbia and Iraq, and the previous open thread's about to fall off the frontpage, so here's another.

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