Depending on who you believe, Rep. Michael Grimm was either a gun-waving crazy man or a law enforcement officer doing his job during a visit to a Queens nightclub on July 10, 1999. Here is what happened, according to the New Yorker magazine (all of which is denied by the congressman):
• Shortly after midnight: Grimm and a date enter the Caribbean Tropics nightclub in Queens. His date’s estranged husband is also there and the two men have a few heated words on the dance floor. A bouncer separates the two, but not before Grimm says, “I’ll f—ing make [the husband] disappear where nobody will find him.” Outraged, Grimm and his date leave.
• 2:30 am: Grimm and his date return, but the woman’s estranged husband is still there with three friends. Another confrontation occurs and the men fight. This time Grimm allegedly pulls a gun on his opponent. Gordon Williams, the bouncer and an off-duty NYPD officer, said Grimm was “carrying on like a madman and screaming ‘I’m gonna f—ing kill him.’ ” Williams said that Grimm “put the gun back in his waist and said ‘I’m a f—ing FBI agent. … Nobody’s gonna threaten me.’ ” Grimm and his date leave the club again.
• 4:30 am: Grimm returns, this time with another FBI agent and several cops. “Everybody get up against the f—ing wall,” Grimm shouted, according to the magazine. “The FBI is in control. All the white people get out of here.” No one is arrested.
• Later that day: Grimm rats out Williams to his NYPD superiors, claiming that the bouncer didn’t help him when he was attacked and interfered “with an FBI investigation.” The charges do not stick, but the NYPD suspends Williams for moonlighting without departmental approval. Williams files a slander suit against Grimm, but later drops it when the feds announce that they will defend Grimm.
• This week: Grimm denied everything in the New Yorker article, saying, “After more than one year of investigating, the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility ultimately found that the allegations were baseless and without merit. This incident was fully investigated and I was cleared of all of the ridiculous and absurd allegations, concluding with a recommendation of no disciplinary action to be taken, unlike my accuser who did, in fact, receive disciplinary action by the NYPD.”
