FBI hasn't contacted Miller on land deals

29 Nov 2007 // Nearly a year since an investigation into Rep. Gary Miller's business dealings surfaced, federal agents have yet to contact him.

FBI investigators had asked Monrovia and Fontana officials for information about Miller's land dealings, including requesting a video from a 2000 Monrovia City Council meeting in which Miller asked the city to buy his land.

Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, said she could not comment on an ongoing investigation.

Miller said Friday that talk of his being under federal investigation is "stupid."

"I know of no ongoing investigation into any of these deals," said Miller. "They never have contacted me. I think they have all the documents, read them and saw nothing there."

The Brea Republican sold hillside land to Monrovia in 2002 and filed forms with the IRS claiming the sale was made under threat of eminent domain. The move allowed Miller to shelter millions of dollars in profits from capital gains taxes for two years. He used the money to buy land in Fontana, which he later sold to that city, and claimed the same exemption.

A Washington-based watchdog group filed a complaint, accusing Miller of falsely claiming the land sales were made under threat of eminent domain.

Fontana and Monrovia officials said this week they have not been contacted by investigators since the initial inquiries late last year.

An official with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group that filed the complaint last year, said the fact that investigators have not contacted the congressman does not mean he is not under scrutiny.

"The line that they have been not contacted by investigators is one used often by members of Congress to profess their innocence, but it certainly means nothing," said Deputy Director Naomi Seligman Steiner. "There is more than enough evidence right now that suggests (Miller) is in real trouble. But the wheels of justice move slowly."