Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), who was indicted by the Department of Justice on Wednesday morning and received charges of fraud, bribery, and money laundering, said earlier this year that he longed for the days when Bill Clinton was in the White House.
Politico spoke with Fattah in a piece about Democrats in Congress who felt alienated by President Barack Obama’s White House. He said that his relationship with the White House during the Clinton presidency was different:
Philadelphia Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah, who was elected in 1994, described Bill Clinton’s relationships on the Hill as "extraordinary."
"I don’t think this is just looking at it through rose-colored glasses," Fattah said, noting that when Clinton came to Philadelphia, he would meet the president at the airport, ride in the limo and take him to play golf. After one of Fattah’s first legislative victories for an educational program called Gear Up, Clinton traveled to a middle school in Pennsylvania and credited him for getting the bill signed into law.
"There was a lot of personalized interaction and they were engaged in this political effort, but it was also substantive," Fattah said.
Fattah was also an early supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, stating in 2013 that he would support her decision to run.
Though he may not play golf with Obama like he did with Bill Clinton, he was invited to fly along with him on Air Force One earlier this month.
Here is the selfie he snapped with Valerie Jarrett:
@vj44 on Air Force One with @POTUS on another history shaping day in the life of the world. pic.twitter.com/Ek3kSHyDgE
— Chaka Fattah (@chakafattah) July 14, 2015