WASHINGTON -- The House ethics committee recommended Thursday that Rep. Mario Biaggi, D-N.Y., be expelled from Congress because of his conviction on charges of accepting an illegal gratuity.
If the full House votes to go along with the recommended punishment, Biaggi, 70, would be the first member of Congress to be expelled since Rep. Ozzie Myers, D-Pa., was ousted for his bribery conviction in the FBI's Abscam operation in 1980.
Biaggi said he will fight to retain his seat and urged his House colleagues to delay action until his appeals are completed.
Biaggi was convicted in a Brooklyn federal court last Sept. 22 and sentenced to 2 years in prison and fined $500,000.
The conviction stemmed his acceptance of Florida vacations paid for by Biaggi's longtime friend and New York City Democratic leader Meade Esposito, who had sought Biaggi's help in keeping a Brooklyn ship-repair firm in business. Esposito had a financial stake in the company.
Biaggi was acquitted on more serious bribery and conspiracy charges, but he still faces trial on racketeering charges in connection with his dealings with Wedtech, a Bronx defense contractor.
The House ethics panel, formally called the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, is required by House rules to review cases involving felony convictions and recommend to the full House what discplinary action should be taken.
The House can accept the committee's recommendation or vote for a lesser punishment.
Biaggi, a highly decorated former New York City police officer was first elected to the House in 1968. As a result of his conviction, Biaggi had to give up the chairmanships of two House subcommittees and has refrained from voting in the House since that time.
In a statement issued by his Washington office, Biaggi said he was 'bitterly disappointed by the committee's action, coming as it does before my appeal has even been heard.'
'The committee, in its rush to judgment, seems content to trample on my due process rights as a member of Congress and as an individual,' he said.
Saying 'this fight is far from over,' Biaggi pledged to 'take my case directly to the floor of the House.'
'I will ask my colleagues one straight-forward question: If my appeal is successful, but comes after action by the House that results in expulsion, how do I recoup the loss of my House seat?'
Aside from Myers, the only members previously expelled from Congress were three border state representatives who were ousted in 1861 during the Civil War for treason and supporting the Confederacy.
