Jun 1, 2008 5:58 pm US/Eastern
Federal Probe Of Md. Sen. Expands To Legislature
DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
The federal probe of Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie may be expanding to include legislative records, according to a legislative staff member.
Lynne Porter, an executive assistant to Karl S. Aro, the head of the Department of Legislative Services, said the state attorney general's office forwarded a draft copy of a federal subpoena to her office on Friday.
Mike Hellgren reports the deliver of the draft subpoena follows a search of the Prince George's County Democrat's home by FBI agents on Thursday, the same day agents searched the headquarters of a supermarket company for which the influential lawmaker has acted as a consultant.
Currie has not disclosed the relationship with the supermarket company, Shoppers Food and Pharmacy, to the state's ethics commission.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Washington's Metro subway system, told The Washington Post that Currie attended two meetings over the past two years dealing with a proposal by Shoppers' to build a store on about 3 1/2 acres owned by Metro at its West Hyattsville Station, which is outside of Currie's district.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said Currie accompanied Charles Deegan, then a member of the Metro board of directors, to a meeting in late 2006 at which Metro officials explained the agency only sells land to local governments or private companies through competitive bidding.
About six months ago, Currie also participated in a meeting with Metro officials where Shoppers executives and representatives of several Prince George's agencies discussed whether the public Prince George's Redevelopment Authority could buy the land for use as a Shoppers store, Farbstein said.
Discussions on the proposal faded when Prince George's officials could not agree on how to proceed, the Metro spokeswoman said.
Farbstein said that Currie's appearance was a "complete surprise" and that the head of Metro's planning and development department did not know of any ties between the senator and the grocery chain at the time.
The Metro spokeswoman said the agency has not been contacted by the FBI about the talks.
Brad Frome, a legislative aide to Prince George's County Council member William A. Campos, said he also attended the meeting. "He didn't say much," Frome said of Currie, adding he was not aware of any links between the state senator and the company. "It seemed more like he was someone who wanted to see things get worked out."
Currie chairs the Budget and Taxation Committee, handling all legislation dealing with the state budget.
Senator Currie, who has not been charged, has played a major role in state politics, particularly controlling Maryland's purse strings with that chairmanship.
"That committee is strategic. It's probably the most important committee in the Senate," said political analyst, Matthew Crenson.
According to published reports, Currie never reported any recent personal income from Shoppers and he made no filing of a conflict of interest with the state ethics commission.
The senator says he's not sure what prompted the investigation. The FBI is not talking about the case.
Published reports also reveal Currie has received $7,500 in political contributions from Shoppers' parent company, since 2004.
Currie says he has no plans to step down. He is in his fourth term in the Senate. His political career began in 1987 when he was elected to the House where he worked his way up to majority whip.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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