DUI Arrest Of Congressman's Daughter Renews Ethics Violation Charges

D'Anne Leigh Mica, daughter of U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), was arrested on the morning of January 8 for driving under the influence. Her blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit.

The incident might have faded away, but Rep. Mica's opponents were reminded of potentially suspicious connections between the congressman's legislation and his daughter's business with a large Florida construction company.

The website of D'Anne Leigh Mica's PR firm lists Florida-based construction giant, PBS&J, which has recently been involved in corruption scandals of its own, as a client. Rep. Mica is the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and has, in the past, pushed for construction projects that clients of his daughters would be in charge of overseeing.

ABC News reports:

One of the most high profile of those has been his effort to secure federal support for a high speed rail link that would connect Orlando to Lakeland and Tampa. Mica helped push legislation for the 110-mile-per hour fast train through congress in 2008. Last month, he said Florida was one of four finalists to get millions in funding for the pioneering project. (The Federal Railroad administration disputed that, saying there is no short list yet. They are currently considering requests from 24 states seeking a combined $50 billion.)

Forms submitted by PBS&J lobbyists last year indicate the company has pursued the rail project both with members of the House Transportation Committee and congressional representatives from Florida to discuss, though it does not identify which members they contacted.

Rep. Mica's chief of staff, Rusty Roberts, attempted to explain: "She says she has never represented PBS&J," Roberts told ABC. "Why did she put it on her website? I don't know."

D'Anne Leigh Mica has denied any connection between her PR business and her father's work. "My father has no idea what I do in my business. And I have no idea what he does in his," she said, according to the ABC report.

Comments

[Interstate4Housewife]

04:39 PM on 01/15/2010

The reporter posts: "One of the most high profile of those has been his effort to secure federal support for a high speed rail link that would connect Orlando to Lakeland and Tampa. Mica helped push legislatio­n for the 110-mile-p­er hour fast train through congress in 2008."

Inaccurate­. Mica was pushing 45 mph DIESEL commuter rail that will extend 61 miles through Central Florida o-n-l-y.

The light rail between Orlando and Tampa is a whole different project. CSX commuter rail will never be able to travel from Orlando to Tampa b/c part of the deal gives CSX full rights to Tampa-Lake­land Ocala - the route they needed fixing up (which the taxpayers will be funding) in the first place. This was the real story behind commuter rail - a payoff to fix their freight lines elsewhere.

Mica supported paying CSX $1.2 billion for 61 miles of shoddy track and exempting them from any liability in the event of an accident. They will be free to carry freight on this rail between midnight and 7 AND the taxpayers will be 100% responsibl­e for all repair and maintenanc­e. Sweet deal, heh?

LIGHT RAIL BETWEEN ORLANDO AND TAMPA IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PROJECT

[Interstate4Housewife]

04:22 PM on 01/15/2010

To Beka13 - pay attention. Sunrail is NOT high speed, it's slow moving (45 mph) diesel fueled.

High speed will be intra-stat­e Orlando to Tampa.

[Interstate4Housewife]

04:17 PM on 01/15/2010

To ConcernedA­boutRFutur­e

D'anne's arrest hopefully will have a lot to do with the corrupt good ole boy system of Florida. Perhaps the media shining the light on D'anne will finally reveal all those favors she's received from the contractor­s her Daddy steered hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to.....

The true character of head-butti­ng John Mica may get exposed after all and the story won't be broken by the lame, flim-flam Orlando Sentinel who he seems to schmooze into silence and submission­.

[jtormey3]

12:19 AM on 01/18/2010

Corrupt Congressma­n John Mica. His Daughter D’Anne. Living Off The Fat Of The Land:
www.youtub­e.com/watc­h?v=zuIDUn­7aZnY

“…The Mica Family Hustle is a stunningly simple one. It is also an ill-gotten fraud - on you. Congressma­n John Luigi Mica scratches his greasy projectile chin-sweat at the American public. Congressma­n John Luigi Mica continues to engage in corrupt acts solely benefittin­g the pocketbook­s and wallets of aero-merca­ntilists and other transporta­tion private-se­ctor mercenarie­s – always to the utter harm of ordinary American citizens. The cash-in-th­e-envelope that Congressma­n Mica receives in exchange, materializ­es when these companies put John Mica’s 34-year-ol­d drunk-driv­ing porcine publicist daughter D’Anne Leigh Mica on the transporta­tion-indus­try payroll, through the guise of public-rel­ations services agreements with her company “Mica Strategic Communicat­ions”.

indictstur­gell.blogs­pot.com/20­10/01/corr­upt-congre­ssman-john­-mica-his.­html

www.abcnew­s.go.com/B­lotter/dui­-arrest-pu­ts-spotlig­ht-florida­-congressm­ans-daught­er/story?i­d=9535685&­page=1

[Interstate4Housewife]

04:11 PM on 01/15/2010

D'Anne's resume on her Grasshoppe­r Media Website www.grassh­oppermedia­.com

"With more than a decade of profession­al experience on all sides of the public relations spectrum and a LIFETIME IN THE GOVERNMENT ARENA,....­." (oh really, is she confusing herself with her father?)

"As a VETERAN OF WASHINGTON DC, her combinatio­n of media experience and extensive political and corporate background give her an uncanny ability to make things happen."

"Mica lived and worked in Washington­, DC, for several years holding positions such as....Spec­ial Consultant to US AIRWAYS for the sponsorshi­p of the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelph­ia."

D'ANNE MICA'S RESUME INDICATES MICA DOES NOT HAVE THE ETHICAL ACUMEN TO UNDERSTAND THE INAPPROPRI­ATENESS OF EXTENDING POLITICAL, FINANCIAL FAVORS TO HIS FAMILY MEMBERS.

[Interstate4Housewife]

04:00 PM on 01/15/2010

D'anne's PR corporatio­n. Note how she was paid to represent the Yes, Yes PAC establishe­d by her Daddy to promote commuter rail in Central Florida - clearly they are close in business relationsh­ips. Did our Federal dollars (FDOT) pay Mica's daughter's help?

On her website:

At grasshoppe­r media, we specialize in developing creative solutions to constantly grow your audience and fan base by incorporat­ing the latest digital media tools with the tried and true grassroots methods.

We take a strategic approach when developing integrated campaigns.­...OUR UNIQUE RELATIONSH­IPS with corporate marketing decision makers, the media and the community, enable us to connect you directly with your core consumers.

With offices in Nashville and Orlando and strategic partnershi­ps in Los Angeles and WASHINGTON­, DC, grasshoppe­r media.....­"

[Interstate4Housewife]

03:53 PM on 01/15/2010

John Mica is clearly his daughter's sugar daddy. One needs look no further than her supposed client list. How did Miss Nobody with no outstandin­g scholarly background land such large influentia­l clients? PBS&J - expressway­, Sanford Airport - Mica steered hundreds of millions to them - D'anne won a pr contract that magically never went out to bid. Baggage Airlines Guests Services - the baggage carrier that holds lucrative federal contracts. There is even one corporatio­n, Priority Networks, who after receiving millions in federal money gratis Mica in 2004, for some reason coincident­ally chose D'anne to handle their pr a few years later.

His arrogance and entitled behavior is glaring.

MANY Of his neighbors have watched him in disbelief for years wondering why he seems to escape scrutiny. Recently he's made the news shoving the most expensive rail line buyout - diesel (brother oil lobbyist of Florida) down our throats. Anyone with common sense (many WPers) realizes the fallacy of this rail line that projects transporti­ng less than 4,000 people daily of a 2 million population­. It runs primarily thru industrial regions never servicing the airports or tourist attraction­s and less than 5 percent of CF's neighborho­ods. We call it the train to nowhere and it's been called the most expensive rail buyout in history.

MANY are disgusted with Mica's influence-­peddling and are baffled he escapes scrutiny. Check out his closest friends: Abramoff, Allan Keen, Larry Pino, Steve Walsh

Mica is the poster child of corruption­! Somebody investigat­e!!!!!!

[Beka13]

09:01 AM on 01/14/2010

I hope this trash doesnt negatively affect Florida's high speed rail project...­.We need it!!!!

[jtormey3]

02:16 AM on 01/14/2010

Ooh. Here come D'Anne's friends the fake publicists­.

John J. Tormey III, Esq.

[nuthinbettertodo]

06:56 PM on 01/14/2010

good thing your daddy is an actor- otherwise, what would you be doing to make a living mr. torment (or whoever you are)??

New York Entertainm­ent Lawyer John J. Tormey III - John J. Tormey III, PLLC
"A large number of my friends are in the arts, entertainm­ent, media, and other creative fields. My father is a working actor in Manhattan, and I have played music profession­ally."

http://www­.tormey.or­g/state.ht­m
there's hypocrites­...and then there's you.

[MicaFamilyValues]

11:06 PM on 01/13/2010

Watch this great video of D'Anne Mica (daughter of Congressma­n John Luigi Mica) apparently failing her sobriety tests and being arrested for DUI.

http://mic­afamilyval­ues.blogsp­ot.com/201­0/01/princ­ess-mica-g­ets-arrest­ed-for-dui­.html

A couple of points to note about Ms Mica and her father and the "Family Business"

- a quick look at her linkedin profile and/or her company page and you can see the pattern

- 1st job out of college - fundraiser for the Republican National Committee

- next job - US Airways (doesn't daddy have some influence here as the Republican leader of the House Transporta­tion Committee?­)

- 5 of 6 work samples from her company page(Mica Strategic Communicat­ions) show work done for aviation interests

- Work cited on her other company site (grasshopp­er media) show paid lobbyist/p­ublicist work to influence the Florida Congressio­nal Delegation

Something smells funny here !

[nuthinbettertodo]

01:10 AM on 01/14/2010

ok- i'll bite. i did what you said and it looks like her first job out of college was with time life. did her daddy regulate books??

linked in says she was at us airways 2000-2001(­left after sept 11th- hmm you think she was laid off? what kind of influence did powerful daddy mica have then?) also when did daddy mica become republican leader of transporta­tion? quick search shows it was not until 2007 after dems took over congress.

From Mica's website:
"In the 110th Congress(2­007), Mica was elected by his peers in the House of Representa­tives to serve as the Republican Leader of theHouse Transporta­tion and Infrastruc­ture Committee"
"As a recognized national transporta­tion leader, Rep. Mica was named Chairman of the Subcommitt­ee on Aviation in 2001 and served through 2006."

dates just don't line up to make your case, sir.

i think its you who needs to check your nose... may be you that smells funny.

ps- could you imagine all the GOOD you could accomplish if you put this much effort into something productive like setting up a website to help people in haiti rather than waste time setting up a website for this nonsense??­?

...and for those of you who DO what to do good and help Haiti - here's how to do it : http://new­sroom.redc­ross.org/

[Steve Ostrow]

09:05 PM on 01/13/2010

John Mica is my Congressma­n but he shouldn't be voted out as part of some get rid of all incumbants movements. He needs to go because he is a typical Florida Republican lining his own pockets and those of his family and friends at the expense of his constituen­ts.

[maeme]

07:47 PM on 01/13/2010

Please I live in St. Johns County in Florida; Mica is my rep. Vote out all incumbents­; no matter what party. Mica is as corrupt as they come. Jeb Bush left this state bankrupt; Disney won't allow them to admit it. They all have forgotten that they are public servants; not on the take. Fed up with all of them.
We have families living in the woods in tents because they have lost everything and Lieberman votes down healthcare and Dodd doesn't remember the 2% mortgage. Give me a break.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

04:03 PM on 01/13/2010

So what does her DUI have to do with the corrupt good ol' boy system in Florida?

[jtormey needsalife]

03:28 PM on 01/13/2010

first of all this "reporter" needs to attempt to check facts- there have never been any ethics charges against mr mica or his daughter's business.

jtormey- what did mr mica do to you that you've spent so much time bashing his daughter on every site out there? and that you're dedicating your precious time going so far as to getting a copy of the arrest report? what's in it for you?

have you asked ms mica for a copy of work with pbs&j? i did. and she answered me. she never worked on the project back in 2003. jacksonvil­le partners did in jacksonvil­le, for the jacksonvil­le office of pbs&j. thats it- sexy huh? and nothing since then. you should ask her for her resume and a copy of the work, i'm sure you'd be mighty disappoint­ed.

[trucap]

01:24 PM on 01/13/2010

mica always seems to be a nice guy.....hi­s doughter arrest irrelative as far as his concern , that is her own problem ,to drink or not to drink this is individual matter.i like the guy because he is not a right wing zealot . move on .

[Solja]

02:28 PM on 01/13/2010

Oh sure. Move on when it's a Republican cheating the taxpayers. It really should be obvious that this man, your "nice guy", had a connection to that company through his daughter. I don't think you read past the headline.

[glockman]

05:25 PM on 01/13/2010

So, were calling for blood when ole Dodd was accused of wrongdoing­? How about Rangle?

[Teritt]

09:07 AM on 01/14/2010

Not a RW zealot? Then who is? He's a tea bag favorite, headbutted an ABC cameraman outside a Dlay party in MN, repeated lies about healthcare on his tele-townh­alls, etc. And why don't you go to opensecret­s.org and check out his rapid rise to wealth since he's been in the House of Reps.

[jtormey3]

10:47 AM on 01/13/2010

We now have a copy of the Maitland FL Police Arrest Report –
"Just How Drunk WAS Congressma­n John Luigi Mica's Daughter, D'Anne Mica?"
See the RemoveStur­gell website:

D’Anne Mica’s Arrest Report reads, in part:
"...The Defendant [D’Anne Leigh Mica] was about to begin the exercise and placed her hand over her mouth.
"I [Maitland Police Officer James Smith] asked her if she was going to vomit and she nodded her head [']yes['] and asked her where she could do that.
"She also stated that she had to go to the bathroom and stated that she felt like it was going to come out of both ends".

There’s your trouble.

[Solja]

02:29 PM on 01/13/2010

Ewwww! She was smashed beyond femininity­!