Miller calls Currie a ‘dear friend,’ says case against him ‘is lessening’

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Chesapeake Beach) described embattled Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-District Heights) as "a very dear friend" during his press conference in Annapolis yesterday, saying Currie is an example of "history living."

Discussing the FBI raid on Currie's home last week, Miller said, "As I hear more--I think this is lessening."

Miller described Currie's boyhood days growing up in the segregated south and service in the U.S. Army as a young man.

Saying he was "honored to serve" with Currie, Miller said he has encouraged his colleague to "keep his spirits up" as the investigation continues.

Calling Currie a "well respected man," Miller expressed doubt that Currie had been acting in an improper manner, saying, "I would have known about it."

The investigation is thought to be related to Currie's consulting work with the Lanham-based company Shoppers Food and Pharmacy.

Currie, the chair of the powerful Budget and Taxation Committee, had been mentioned in recent years as a possible successor to Miller as Senate president.

Despite recent events, Miller said yesterday that was still a possibility, saying Currie, Finance Committee Chairman Thomas Middleton (D-Waldorf), Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway (D-Baltimore), and Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman Brian Frosh (D-Bethesda) were the "best and the brightest chairpersons."

"Anyone of those four would do a fine job (as Senate president)," Miller said.

The Senate president also said his decision to seek re-election in 2010 had "nothing to do" with the Currie investigation.