Former rep. Alan Grayson is being pressured by Democrats to drop his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida.  Controversey surrounding the hedge fund run by Grayson – including a charge that he used his influence as a congressman to advance his business interests – has dogged his campaign for months.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid pulled no punches when he demanded that the bomb-throwing liberal leave the race.

The Hill:

“These deeply troubling allegations should disqualify anyone from a seat in the U.S. Senate,” Reid said in a statement, which was first reported by The Associated Press. 

“Alan Grayson used his status as a congressman to unethically promote his Cayman Islands hedge funds, and he should drop out of the Senate race immediately. His actions aren't just disgraceful to the Democratic Party, they disgrace the halls of Congress,” he continued. 

Grayson, a liberal firebrand, is running in a heated primary battle against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) for the swing seat vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is running for president. The Democratic establishment has rallied around Murphy and have tried to push out Grayson to avoid a bruising primary. 

In response to Reid, Grayson on Friday fired back, arguing that he's running against the "Washington Establishment."

 

"Sen. Reid may well prefer corrupt Establishment errand boy Patrick Murphy, who routinely sells his vote to Wall Street lobbyists, and just last week hid from voting on his own bill providing amnesty to white-collar criminals," Grayson said in a statement.

 

"Those are actions that truly disgrace our party and the Halls of Congress," he added.

 

Grayson also pushed back on the reports about his fund, calling them "misleading statements" and "outright lies." 

"I never used my Congressional office to advance any business interest or for personal gain, and to say so is utterly deceitful. I resent the attack on my 'morality,' and I question the morality and judgment of any elected official, much less one in my own party, who would sink so low as to engage in such a smear," Grayson said.

Grayson is not only a crook; he's a despicable human being.  During the debate on Obamacare in 2009, Grayson stood in the well of the House and accused Republicans of promoting policies that would kill people:

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) warned Americans that " Republicans want you to die quickly" during an after-hours House floor speech Tuesday night.

His remarks, which drew angry and immediate calls for an apology from Republicans, were highlighted by a sign reading "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."

That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Duncan said.

"It's fully appropriate that the gentleman return to the floor and apologize," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican.

Grayson never did apologize for saying that, or any number of other poisonously partisan statements.

But the hedge fund scandal may derail his candidacy anyway.

New York Times:

This highly unusual dual role — a sitting House lawmaker running a hedge fund, which until recently had operations in the Cayman Islands — has led to an investigation of Mr. Grayson by the House Committee on Ethics.

The inquiry has become public, but emails and marketing documents obtained by The New York Times show the extent to which Mr. Grayson’s roles as a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress were intertwined, and how he promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business.

Interviews and the documents show that Mr. Grayson told potential investors in his hedge fund that they should contribute money to the fund to capitalize on the unrest he observed around the world, and to take particular advantage when there was “blood in the streets.”

What a great humanitarian.