But Mr. Grimm’s clean-cut persona has taken a hit in recent weeks amid reports of fund-raising irregularities that should attract the attention of his onetime colleagues in law enforcement. The allegations, it should be noted, concern not just his campaign’s actions, but Mr. Grimm’s personal contacts, fund-raising methods and slippery business practices.

Mr. Grimm’s top fund-raiser two years ago, Ofer Biton, is under federal investigation. Donors told The New York Times that Mr. Grimm and Mr. Biton told them that they would accept unlawful donations during the 2010 campaign. Mr. Grimm’s business partner and onetime FBI colleague, Carlos Luquis, served 18 months in prison on charges that he and five accomplices stole $2 million from electricity customers in Texas. And two workers in an East Side restaurant in which Mr. Grimm had an interest, Healthalicious, are suing the congressman and others, charging that they did not pay minimum wages and overtime.

Not a pretty picture. In response to these and other troubling issues, Mr. Grimm has chosen to remain silent, save to insist that these allegations are politically motivated. He told his hometown newspaper that those who have raised these questions “are picking on the wrong Marine.”

Nice try, congressman, but it’s time to go beyond flag-waving. The Times stories suggest a very troubling pattern involving Mr. Grimm’s political fund-raising and private business dealings. The congressman had been emerging as a second-tier surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but last week the campaign announced that Mr. Grimm would no longer make appearances on the candidate’s behalf.

Democrats in Mr. Grimm’s district, which includes all of Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn, have a chance to recapture a seat they won in 2008 after three decades of a Republican monopoly, only to see it slip away in 2010. Mr. Grimm has a lot of explaining to do, but unless he faces a vigorous challenge, he will be content to attack his critics and hide behind the flag. That would be a disservice to the district and to the city as a whole.

Later, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called on Grimm to urge the NYPD and the Department of Justice to "release all records surrounding this incident in order to provide a full accounting to the public."

This move by de Blasio didn't sit well with Staten Island G.O.P. Councilman Jimmy Oddo, who took to the floor of the City Council to denounce de Blasio for what he called "a cheap political shot."

"Bill is a smart guy,  he is a politically astute guy," Oddo said when reached by phone last week. "We have a great personal relationship. He is better than this."

Oddo served with de Blasio for eight years in the City Council, and he said that even though he is a Republican, he backed de Blasio in the Democratic primary for public advocate.

But he said that de Blasio weighing in on a decade-old issue reprinted in a magazine will lead many, including him, to wonder if maybe the office of Public Advocate should be eliminated after all, as many editorial boards have urged.

"I just don't understand why Bill would use his office to enter that issue. It's certainly not what the office is designed for," Oddo said. "This is not what taxpayers envisioned their tax dollars going to the public advocate for. This has nothing to do with the public advocate position. If you want to be sheriff for elected officials, aren't you coming to the dance a little late?"

Oddo added that perhaps de Blasio should demand the release of Democrats' records, including the tax records of Charlie Rangel and the anger management records of Kevin Parker.

Oddo compared de Blasio's asking for records to those who demanded that President Obama release his birth certificate, and said that New Yorkers would view the move through a political lens.

"Anybody who has been around politics would infer from this that this is strictly a political move," he said. "If you want to beat him, beat him at the voting booth next November."

We have reached out to de Blasio's office for a response, and will update when we receive one.

De Blasio spokesman Matt Wing passed along the following:

"Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has always believed that all elected officials need to live by example when it comes to transparency and accountability in government. That's the standard to which he has held colleagues on both sides of the aisle, no matter what office they hold.  While they may disagree on this issue, Bill has great respect for Councilmember Oddo and considers him a good friend."

Grimm also made some puzzling new assertions to the Advance. He said that Williams "instituted a lawsuit claiming damages of a million dollars." The amount claimed, according to court documents (below), was $25,000. Grimm further said that he would not have suggested that "all the white people" could leave, because "to the best of my recollection ... I was the only white person there." I interviewed an employee of the club who is white and is quoted in the story, saying that Grimm specifically told him and other employees to leave.

In the Advance article Grimm also says that Williams was "on the hot seat" for moonlighting at the club and for not calling 911 when Grimm asked him to. The first part is true, as detailed in "The Mark." Williams was later suspended for working off-duty at Caribbean Tropics without permission, a fact I learned from Williams himself. The second part may be true, too. But Williams does point out that he was never prosecuted or disciplined for failing to assist another law-enforcement officer or interfering with an F.B.I. investigation. "I wasn't arrested," Williams told me Tuesday. "I had no criminal charge against me. I retired in good standing." Of Grimm's response, he said, "he's lying."

And this gem:

There is one assertion of Congressman Grimm's that I can confirm outright: I was, as he says, working on the story "for over a year." I first heard about the main case described in the article, against a lawyer named Albert Santoro, in 2006, and began reporting in earnest at the beginning of 2010. In fourteen months I pored over thousands of pages of court documents, interviewed well over a hundred people, and obtained audiotapes of then-agent Grimm discussing both the Santoro case and other matters. But my original story pitch to editors at The New Yorker in January of 2010 contains no mention of Michael Grimm. At the time, I'd never heard of him. 

A woman who was not permitted to enter Rep. Grimm's town hall meeting on Staten Island last night said organizers told her the reason was because she "hadn't been screened, for security" and "were invoking images of [Rep. Gabby] Giffords, the woman that was shot, and 9/11."

The woman, Terry McLeod, made the allegations in a video sent to me by a political operative actively opposing Grimm. (I left a voice message for McLeod and have not heard back.)

A spokeswoman for Grimm denied McLeod's claims, saying the 350-person capacity for the event space had been reached.

"Anyone who RSVPed was admitted - Republicans and Democrats alike," wrote Grimm's spokeswoman, Carol Danko. "Staff only turned people away for failure to be on the list."

"Had [McLeod] rsvped, she would have been admitted," said Danko.

New York City's only Repubilcan congressman, freshman Michael Grimm, got a mixed reaction from the crowd in Brooklyn last night, thanks to his vote in favor of the Republican budget plan that severely cut back spending on social programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

"Get it all out Get it all out," he said during one round of booing and heckling. "It's good to get it all out. It's healthy for your lungs."

He has another town hall meeting tonight on Staten Island.

In a public statement, de Blasio -- who once considered running for that seat -- said "Congressman Grimm has an obligation to fully address these allegations by letting the whole truth come out. I urge the Congressman to join me in calling on the New York City Police Department and the Justice Department to release all records surrounding this incident in order to provide a full accounting to the public."

Grimm, actually, did discuss the issue at a previously-scheduled meeting with the Staten Island Advance editorial board. (Here's the video.) Grimm said the allegations were made by an off-duty cop working security at the club who, for some reason, refused to assist him.

According to Grimm, the officer leveled the charges in order to cover up his own misconduct (not assisting Grimm in the altercation, and moonlighting as without NYPD approval). A lawsuit filed by this now-retired officer was ultimately thrown out.

Rep. Michael Grimm demonstrates how he used his gun at nightclub back in 1999.

Obama NYC: Third visit in under a month; talks at Waldorf, Corzine's home at Roots concert. [Celeste Katz and Erin Einhorn]

Michael Grimm: Demonstrates how to move gun from ankle to waist; calls allegations against him detailed in New Yorker magazine "fiction." [Judy Randall]

Michael Grimm: Video. [Anthony DePrimo]

Immigration: Obama keeps deporting Haitians, despite talk after earthquake. [Albor Ruiz]

Pensions: Cuomo rolls out permanent safeguards; similar to what DiNapoli put in place earlier. [Jimmy Vielkind]

Pensions: "DiNapoli's Office Says Cuomo's Pension Regs Are Redundant." [David King]

Pensions: Legislators who break the law will lose their pensions. [Brendan Scott and Fred Dicker]

Unions: Top SEIU official, Bruce Raynor of Workers United, quits amid allegations of misusing expense account. [Steven Greenhouse]

Medicaid: Paul Ryan's plan is better than Obama's. [Betsy McCaughey]

Medicaid: "Dishonest and manipulative to suggest somehow Republicans in the House are endeavoring to take something away from seniors' says Rep. Hayworth, who defended Paul Ryan's budget cuts. [Liz Benjamin]

Bloomberg's Agenda: "Critics have deplored the city's willingness to offer incentives at a time of economic distress. And the mayor has angered local university leaders with his suggestion that New York lacked a top-tier engineering school. They argue that the city should instead use its resources to help expand existing programs." [Javier Hernandez]

Bronx Fire: "The mayor said that constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure often present an insurmountable obstacle to city officials seeking to assure the safety of properties." [Samantha Gross and Colleen Long]

Bronx Fire: Neighbors say drug dealers barred inspectors and installed video cameras to screen visitors. [Daily News]

NYPD: Bloomberg criticizes police escort for P. Diddy; rapper aided by well-connected dry cleaner; NYPD investigating. [New York Post]

Ticket-Fixing: "[A]n NYPD deputy inspector shamelessly wrote a memo on his own departmental stationery ordering a lieutenant to fix a traffic ticket for a lifelong pal." [Kirstan Conley and Bob Fredericks]

Murder Probe: County Exec Steve Levy reportedly unhappy top officer publicized details only serial killer would know.  [Larry Celona Bob Fredericks]

Stadium Safety: Yankee's and Mets' stadiums keep getting temporary certifications of occupancy. [Michael Saul]

Property Taxes: State problem verifying who makes too much money for STAR tax break. [Joseph Spector]

Gas Tax Holiday: More modest proposal pushed by Republican legislators; "The state was in a different fiscal situation than it is now" says Tedisco. [Rick Karlin]

School Control : Proposing rules to enable state takeover of local school districts pushed by Assembly members Sam Hoyt and Crystal Peoples-Stokes. Would require vote by local parents. [Mary Pasciak]

School Staff: Took NYC five years to fire a teacher after it confirmed she helped students cheat on a text. [Carl Campanile]

Taxis: Is Bloomberg retreating from pledge to legalize street-hails for livery cabs, thanks to resistance from yellow taxis? [Andrew Grossman]

Tolling Bridges: Democratic legislators oppose it. (Unlikely Republicans legislators can do it, since those from NYC wouldn't.) [Brendan Scott]

Counterfeit Ban: Shoppers like them. [New York Post]

Counterfeit Ban: "Imagine how that will play with tourists." [New York Post]

Counterfeit Ban: "How practical is it, I don't know," says Bloomberg. [Ashley Parker]

Smoking: Formerly-mandated warning posters still linger in stores months after courts struck down city law. [Jacob Gershman] 

Radio: In-depth look at Hudson Valley market. [John Barry]

Traffic: After tollbooth collector shortage led to 5-hour delay at Staten Island bridge, Port Authority boss says "we will never let that happen again." [Frank Donnelly]

Traffic: 865 tickets by state police for motorists who improperly pass emergency vehicles. [Poughkeepsie Journal] 

Residency Rules: Carl Lewis can't do what Rahm Emanuel did. [Lisa Fleisher]

Days after denying detailed allegations of using a gun and menacing club goers with a gun once when he was an FBI agent, Rep. Michael Grimm will face his constituents in two town hall meetings this week.

Both were scheduled weeks before the New Yorker's report. Tomorrow's town hall is in Brooklyn (7301 Ft. Hamilton Parkway, Bay Ridge) and Thursday's is on Staten Island (1466 Manor Road). They both start at 7 p.m.

Democratic critics are planning to protest outside Thursday's event on Staten Island, claiming Grimm will have a moderator screen questions from the audience.

"If it's through a moderator and  you want to ask a follow up, how will you do it?" asked Kevin Elkins, a Democratic operative who worked for the freshman incumbent Grimm unseated in 2010. "People will just sit there and be frustrated," Elkins predicted.

Elkins called the use of a moderator "sort of suspicious...especially after the New Yorker article."

Elkins said he called Grimm's office to inquire about both events, and was told a moderator will only be used on Staten Island, not in Brooklyn. An inquiry to Grimm's office was not immediately returned. [clarified]

Rep. Michael Grimm speaks to the GOP conference on April 7, 2011. (photo credit: flickr.com/photos/republicanconference)

Michael Grimm: Accused of waiving his gun and acting menacingly, at a night club. [Evan Ratliff]

Michael Grimm: "[T]he previously unreported news that Grimm had been investigated internally for allegedly abusing his authority in an early-morning altercation." [Ben Smith]

Michael Grimm: "I was one hundred percent by the book and fully exonerated." [Liz Benjamin]

Trump: Not a serious candidate. [Hendrik Hertzberg]

Trump: "It's pretty tough to travel a thousand miles in order to vote." [Fox News]

Trump: "There are so many people that really want him to provide his birth certificate." [Fox News]

Trump: Fights Robert DeNirio. [Celeste Katz]

Trump: Why his campaign benefits Eliot Spitzer's career. [Josh Benson]

Trump: His wife talks. [Lindsay Goldwert]

DOMA: Law firm quits defending the law; lawyer doesn't. [Lyle Denniston]

Same-Sex Marriage: Labor helps organize. [Liz Benjamin]

Gay: "I do think that if you're gay you have a responsibility to come out," says Maddow. [Chris O'Shea]

Crime: Rape up 23.7 percent compared to last year. [Luke Funk]

Promotions: Marvel Comics helps NYC. [George Gustines]

Media: Spike Lee shoots MSNBC ads. [Alec Jacobs]

Evan Ratliff at the New Yorker digs up details about an incident involving Michael Grimm, a gun and a night club back in July 1999, before he was a congressman and just an an FBI agent.

Ratliff:

Recently, in his Washington office, Grimm told me that he'd been jumped by his date's husband and four other men that night. He said that he approached [off-duty NYPD officer Gordon] Williams, who had refused to call 911. Grimm said that he then went outside, found a patrol car, and reentered with the police. Although weapons were not permitted in the club, Grimm said that he'd been carrying his gun the whole night and had flashed it only when pulling his out his badge. As for threatening to kill people, he said, "That's not my personality. I don't need to speak that way. A guy with a gun who knows how to use it doesn't need to say anything."

The NYPD and US Justice Department refused to hand over any documents which could have shed light on things.