Thread: FBI agents at Md. state senator's home

FBI agents at Md. state senator's home
May 29, 2008 - 7:40pm

By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press Writer

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) - FBI agents were at the home of a prominent state senator from Prince George's County after serving a search warrant at the headquarters of a supermarket for which the politician was an outside consultant.

Richard Wolf, a spokesman with the FBI's Baltimore field office, said agents went to the home of Ulysses Currie, but wouldn't say why agents were at the home or whether a search warrant had been served.

Currie, who told reporters he has not been charged with a crime, met with an attorney, Dale Kelberman, in Baltimore on Thursday.

"The lawyer asked me to allow him to make a comment," Currie said. The lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Agents served a search warrant earlier Thursday at the headquarters of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Lanham, the FBI spokesman said.

Currie said FBI agents greeted him when he walked out of his home about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. He said he had not talked to the FBI before.

Currie said he left home, while the agents remained there.

"The FBI has told us they are working on an investigation related to Senator Currie, who is an outside consultant for the company," said Shoppers spokeswoman Haley Meyer.

Wolf disclosed both events when asked about the agents at Currie's home, but would not discuss how the two were related.

A Shoppers Food statement issued Thursday said, "Shoppers Food & Pharmacy and SUPERVALU were contacted this morning as part of an FBI investigation. The FBI has told us that they are working on an investigation related to one of our service providers. We are cooperating fully with the FBI and cannot provide additional detail at this time."

Currie said he did not know what the results of the investigation would be, but he said he wasn't worried.

"One, it doesn't help to be worried," Currie told reporters in his driveway after he had returned home. "I think, two, you've got to be realistic to know they can always find something."

Currie then pointed out that he is involved in a lot of state business as chairman of the powerful Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

"I'm involved in a lot of stuff," Currie said.

A top aide to Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Vickie Gruber, said Miller would not comment on the investigation and hadn't heard why agents were there.

"We really don't know anything," Gruber, Miller's chief of staff, said Thursday afternoon. "We're really as surprised as anybody."

Joann Gray, a neighbor who has known the Curries for years, said she saw an unusually high number of cars around Currie's home at about 1:30 p.m. She said she saw seven or eight cars around the house but didn't think much of it.

Mickey Bailey, who lives across the street, also said she noted the activity in front of Currie's home.

"When I came home, I saw loads of cars," she said after getting home about 3 p.m. Bailey said the cars were gone by about 3:30 p.m.

Susan Norton, who also lives across the street, said she saw Currie standing in his driveway about 6:30 in the morning when she was headed to work and that two people had dropped by to see him. But Norton said she didn't know who they were.

"I just thought maybe they were his co-workers or something," Norton said.

Currie, 70, is one of the most influential lawmakers in Maryland. The Democrat leads the budget-writing committee that steers state spending and is sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Miller, who has said he may retire after this term.

A former teacher and longtime Prince George's resident, Currie this year worked on a legislative effort to rescue the financially troubled Prince George's Hospital Center. Currie was elected to the Senate in 1994, after serving eight years in the state House.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Greene in Baltimore and Kristen Wyatt in Annapolis contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press Writer

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) - FBI agents were at the home of a prominent state senator from Prince George's County after serving a search warrant at the headquarters of a supermarket for which the politician was an outside consultant.

Richard Wolf, a spokesman with the FBI's Baltimore field office, said agents went to the home of Ulysses Currie, but wouldn't say why agents were at the home or whether a search warrant had been served.

Currie, who told reporters he has not been charged with a crime, met with an attorney, Dale Kelberman, in Baltimore on Thursday.

"The lawyer asked me to allow him to make a comment," Currie said. The lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Agents served a search warrant earlier Thursday at the headquarters of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Lanham, the FBI spokesman said.

Currie said FBI agents greeted him when he walked out of his home about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. He said he had not talked to the FBI before.

Currie said he left home, while the agents remained there.

"The FBI has told us they are working on an investigation related to Senator Currie, who is an outside consultant for the company," said Shoppers spokeswoman Haley Meyer.

Wolf disclosed both events when asked about the agents at Currie's home, but would not discuss how the two were related.

A Shoppers Food statement issued Thursday said, "Shoppers Food & Pharmacy and SUPERVALU were contacted this morning as part of an FBI investigation. The FBI has told us that they are working on an investigation related to one of our service providers. We are cooperating fully with the FBI and cannot provide additional detail at this time."

Currie said he did not know what the results of the investigation would be, but he said he wasn't worried.

"One, it doesn't help to be worried," Currie told reporters in his driveway after he had returned home. "I think, two, you've got to be realistic to know they can always find something."

Currie then pointed out that he is involved in a lot of state business as chairman of the powerful Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

"I'm involved in a lot of stuff," Currie said.

A top aide to Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Vickie Gruber, said Miller would not comment on the investigation and hadn't heard why agents were there.

"We really don't know anything," Gruber, Miller's chief of staff, said Thursday afternoon. "We're really as surprised as anybody."

Joann Gray, a neighbor who has known the Curries for years, said she saw an unusually high number of cars around Currie's home at about 1:30 p.m. She said she saw seven or eight cars around the house but didn't think much of it.

Mickey Bailey, who lives across the street, also said she noted the activity in front of Currie's home.

"When I came home, I saw loads of cars," she said after getting home about 3 p.m. Bailey said the cars were gone by about 3:30 p.m.

Susan Norton, who also lives across the street, said she saw Currie standing in his driveway about 6:30 in the morning when she was headed to work and that two people had dropped by to see him. But Norton said she didn't know who they were.

"I just thought maybe they were his co-workers or something," Norton said.

Currie, 70, is one of the most influential lawmakers in Maryland. The Democrat leads the budget-writing committee that steers state spending and is sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Miller, who has said he may retire after this term.

A former teacher and longtime Prince George's resident, Currie this year worked on a legislative effort to rescue the financially troubled Prince George's Hospital Center. Currie was elected to the Senate in 1994, after serving eight years in the state House.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Greene in Baltimore and Kristen Wyatt in Annapolis contributed to this report.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1412244

Interesting....wonder what's going on?

Now, if we could just see the same thing happening at the homes and offices of more than a few openly criminal and corrupt politcians, "civil rights organizations" and pro illegal "advocates".............