Mayor Nutter On Fattah Indictment: 'A Very, Very Sad Moment'
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Mayor Michael Nutter has spoken out after Congressman Chaka Fattah was named in an indictment filed today, along with four other people.
Mayor Nutter called the indictment "a very, very sad moment" for the city and for the Congressman and his family.
"It's sad to see anyone go through this kind of process, but especially someone that I've known and worked with for a long, long period of time. He's been a champion for children. Congressman Chaka Fattah has probably helped more people go to college and graduate school than any other member of the United States Congress."
Nutter lives in Fattah's district. He will not say if he believes Fattah should resign, nor will the mayor say whether he would ever run for the congressional seat that Fattah now holds.
"It's completely inappropriate in this moment, at this time, to even speculate on something like that. He is the congressman from the second congressional district. He'll make a decision about what he does and how he deals with the federal government in this particular regard."
Nutter has known Fattah since both were young political operatives in the late 1970s. The mayor says his heart goes out to the entire Fattah family.
"This is a person who has served this city and this nation well. This is a husband, a father. You think about these kinds of things and the impact on the constituents, certainly, but also on your family."
Nutter, of course, topped Fattah and three others in the 2007 Democratic mayoral primary, a campaign that led to some of the charges against the Congressman.
