Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) will not comment on whether he was involved in obtaining or returning an illegal $1 million campaign loan in 2007.
One of Fattah's former aides, Greg Naylor, has plead guilty in a federal court to hiding the loan from investigators. The loan was for Fattah's unsuccessful mayoral campaign in Philadelphia.
The person who gave the campaign loan has so far only been identified as "Person D," although it is suspected to be former Sallie Mae CEO Albert "Al" Lord.
"The one thing is, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not going to engage in it," Fattah said during a radio interview conducted by his former campaign spokesman.
Philly.com reports:
Fattah, a 10-term Democrat who has not responded to requests for comment since last week, mentioned three times in today's interview that the investigation has been going on for seven years.
"They have spent a lot of time looking into it and they looked at everything that I've touched and worked on," Fattah said of the FBI. "They've been very enthusiastic in their efforts."
Fattah repeatedly said he would never do anything to embarrass himself, his family or his constituents. He also complained about the interest from the media now that there is a "cloud of suspicion" over him.
"They have no interest in any of the work I've done," he said. "They never covered me."