The federal grand jury indictment alleged that Renzi embezzled more than $400,000 from an insurance company he owned so that he could finance his first campaign for Congress.

Later, while a sitting member of Congress, the indictment said, Renzi allegedly engaged in the extortion of a mine owner who wanted federal legislation enacted to benefit his company. After the land deal was completed, more than $733,000 of the proceeds were then funneled to Renzi, the indictment charged. Renzi has denied any wrongdoing.

In addition to allegedly leaking the existence of the wiretap, Waas reports that the Bush administration falsely told the media the probe was in its early stage and not likely to result in charges, so that Renzi would have less difficulty getting re-elected.

What did leaking the wiretap do? According to Paul Charlton, the then-U.S. Attorney who headed up the Renzi probe:

“Any time you have a wiretap up and the subject or the target becomes aware that there is an investigation, the value of the information you glean from that wiretap will almost certainly be greatly diminished.”

This is another excellent reporting job by Murray Waas. I hope he continues to follow the Renzi case.