Congressman Grimm (Photo: Getty)

Although the New York Times first raised serious allegations that Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm received illegal campaign contributions, it’s been the Staten Island Advance that has owned the story since, covering it nearly every day.

Since initially reporting the story on January 28th, the Advance has run stories on: local Republican reactions to the story, legal analysis of Mr. Grimm’s “uncertain future,” a Democrat calling for a federal investigation, Mr. Grimm’s denial of these allegations, and more. The paper also sent a reporter to Washington D.C. “to track him down.”

Recently, the Advance asked a former occupant of Mr. Grimm’s seat, Vito Fossella, about the current Congressman’s woes, raising speculation Mr. Fossella may hope to succeed the incumbent in Congress. A few years ago, Mr. Fossella infamously left office himself under heavy controversy. In another story yesterday, they used the Super Bowl as a lead-in to more directly compare Mr. Fossella’s troubles to Mr. Grimm’s.

“There’s really enough legs to this story to keep it running for a long time. Some of the allegations have yet to be addressed,” Kevin Elkins, a local Democratic operative, told the Politicker. “I’m sure this is the tip of the iceberg and the Advance is going to keep digging, and I have no doubt they’re not alone.”

For his part, Mr. Grimm has directly rejected the allegations. “I have unequivocally denied the allegations made by anonymous sources in the New York Times article,” he said in a previous statement. “But let me again be clear that I never accepted illegal cash contributions and never conspired to funnel money or to orchestrate any illegal contributions.”

Mr. Grimm’s campaign declined to comment outside of referring the Politicker to their past statement.

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