House Republicans have a message for ex-congressman and convicted felon Michael Grimm: Stay home.

The disgraced former New York congressman, who served seven months in federal prison for tax evasion, wants to reclaim his old Staten Island seat, declaring a primary challenge against his successor, GOP Rep. Dan Donovan. The faceoff, which Republicans believe could be a real nail-biter, will pit an ex-con against a prosecutor — with both men trying to paint themselves as the true Trumpian candidate in the race.


Michael Caputo, a former campaign aide to Donald Trump, is helping advise Grimm’s campaign. Grimm has also sought and received a blessing from Steve Bannon, the conservative hard-liner and former top Trump strategist. Grimm even changed his Twitter handle to "@RealMGrimm,” an apparent nod to @realDonaldTrump.

But senior House Republicans want nothing to do with Grimm. They worry the man who once threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony, and brandished a gun during a nightclub altercation with his lady companion’s estranged husband, would be a major distraction to their legislative agenda. Grimm could also provide Democrats with ample fodder to flip the swing district.

House Republicans argue that Donovan is a productive member of the GOP Conference and deserves to stay — though privately some of them worry that Grimm, who remains popular back home, could prevail.

“I support Dan Donovan — plain and simple,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday.

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Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), a fellow moderate who says he’s friends with Grimm, offered a blunter assessment of Grimm's comeback bid.

“I just think it’s difficult for someone who copped a plea and went to jail for tax evasion to have credibility with colleagues," Tiberi said. "He’d be a big distraction here on the House floor and a big distraction in committee [hearings]. It would be a circus — and, again, I like Michael Grimm.”

Donovan is hoping to have more than fellow House Republicans in his corner — he wants the president to have his back, too. Donovan said in an interview Tuesday that Trump has been a “good friend of mine for 20 years” and that their relationship goes back to his time as a top official in Staten Island during the 1990s.

Trump had also donated to Donovan’s campaigns for public office, he said, backing him for Staten Island district attorney and, eventually, Congress. Donovan was even on Air Force One the day Trump fired Reince Priebus and tapped then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for chief of staff.

“I said, ‘I think Kelly is an American hero and patriot.’ So the president turns to [deputy national security adviser] Dina Powell and says, ‘See, I told you. In 20 minutes, I’m going to announce that I’m going to make him my chief of staff. Put a lid on it,’” Donovan recounted.

Donovan expressed confidence that the district will back him over Grimm, a former FBI agent often embroiled in controversy. Donovan touted his chairmanship of a homeland security subcommittee that oversees terrorism, and pointed to a host of local projects he’s shepherded through Congress.

But Grimm has his own political assets. The charismatic pol actually saw his popularity in the district rise after the Justice Department indicted him. In 2012, Grimm garnered 48 percent of the vote; in 2014, after being charged with 20 counts of tax evasion and breaking other federal laws, Grimm won 53 percent.

Donovan said that’s because Grimm lied to voters.

“Mr. Grimm told the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn he was innocent and would be exonerated. Enough people trusted him to vote for his reelection — and then, subsequently, weeks later, he proved he lied to them and pled guilty,” Donovan noted.

Grimm declined to comment for this story. But in a recent interview with Breitbart, Grimm portrayed himself as a victim of a vengeful Obama administration, a claim he also made before his guilty plea in April 2014.

“I called on [then-Attorney General] Eric Holder as a freshman to resign, and then it came back to bite me,” Grimm said. “I was told that they made a deal with [then-U.S. Attorney] Loretta Lynch, that if she could take me down on anything, if she could find anything, she would be put to the top of this short list for attorney general. Two months after my bogus sham indictment, she is the attorney general of the United States.”

Caputo, the Grimm adviser, said it was unsurprising that GOP leaders were backing Donovan, the incumbent.

“This a dog-bites-man story,” Caputo said. But if Trump endorses Donovan, Caputo acknowledged, "it would be a difficulty. But I don’t expect the president to do that.”

Caputo also hammered Donovan for voting against the House GOP’s Obamacare repeal plan, saying Grimm would be more loyal to Trump’s agenda.

Immigration is an issue on which Grimm thinks he can hit Donovan. Caputo noted that Donovan voted against cutting off funds for “sanctuary cities.” Yet Grimm also voted against deporting “Dreamers” during his time in office.

Grimm, though, has won Bannon’s blessing, which could be problematic for Donovan and a boost for Grimm as he tries to claim the populist mantle. Indeed, Bannon’s pro-Trump publication Breitbart has already written several favorable stories about Grimm, who’s trying to turn his tax evasion conviction into a tale of martyrdom.

Not every House Republican feels as confident as Donovan. A number of senior House Republican lawmakers and aides said Grimm could give Donovan a serious challenge. Several Republicans said Donovan doesn’t like to raise money, which could be a problem since TV ads are so expensive in the New York market. Donovan had only $300,000 in the bank as of June 30, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Donovan claims that his fundraising numbers have skyrocketed since Grimm jumped into the race early this month. Donors, the incumbent said, want to ensure that he — not Grimm — speaks for them in Congress.

“Since the Grimm announcement, my fundraising has become incredibly easy,” Donovan said. “The amount of people who have reached out to me to ask how they can support [me], or say they want to host an event … I mean, my cash on hand has increased tremendously.”

House Republicans will do what they can to help Donovan hold on. The National Republican Congressional Committee is considering adding him to the Primary Patriot Program, a new branch of the campaign arm dedicated to protecting vulnerable incumbents who pay their campaign dues. The Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of 70 moderates with a PAC dedicated to helping their members, could also help Donovan, said Tiberi, the group's leader.

If Grimm wins, however, his reunion on Capitol Hill won’t be a happy one.

“He has every right to run. He served his time, and he paid his dues for the crime that he was convicted of," said Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.). "But why run against a fellow Republican like Dan Donovan, who is doing a great job?”

