Ethics Panel Outlines Charges Against Rep. Charles Rangel

MYFOXNY.COM - Although lawyers for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) and lawyers for the House ethics panel worked on a tentative deal to settle ethics charges, the House panel went forward with a hearing that outlined the accusations against the 20-term Democrat from Harlem and committee members have not agreed to the deal, the AP reported.

It is not yet clear how many of the 13 charges outlined against him by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Rangel is considering accepting as part of the deal. Those charges include not disclosing that he owned a home in the Dominican Republic and failing to report rental income on that property for a decade, the investigative subcommittee alleged.

The investigation also cited Rangel for accepting four low rent-subsidized apartments -- including one used as a campaign office -- in the Lennox Terrace complex in Harlem, developing a tax loophole for an oil executive who contributed to a City College center named for Rangel, and soliciting donations for that center on House stationery and using House staff.

"We live at a time when public skepticism about the institutions in our country is very high," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the ethics committee chair. She said the committee's goal is to "rebuild and earn trust by the public and our colleagues."

On Wednesday, Rangel's attorneys submitted a brief outlining 11 points of defense as well as exhibits in rebuttal to the claims. In their brief, the attorneys claim that Rangel always paid the full legal rent for the campaign office. They also state that Rangel acknowledged that he "did not devote sufficient personal attention to the preparation of his original annual financial disclosures," but took steps to correct the problems when he became aware of them.

His lawyers' response also states that Rangel never solicited donations from companies or people who had business before the Ways and Means Committee, which Rangel chaired until earlier this month, and that supporting educational programs such as City College's Rangel Center have always been part of his official responsibilities.

"In retrospect he recognizes that the public would have been better served if he had consulted the Standards Committee staff in advance regarding his desire to help CCNY," the brief states. "If he mistakenly used the wrong letterhead or other modest resources in this worthy cause, the error was made in good faith."

During the hearing, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said that Rangel had been "given the opportunity to negotiate a settlement during the investigation phase," but that the time for deals had passed, seemingly shooting down reports that Rangel's lawyers had struck a deal. "We are now in the trial phase," McCaul said.

House ethics panel members would need to approve the agreement in order to end the trial phase of the case.

"Sixty years ago I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea and as a result I haven't had a bad day since," Rangel told reporters earlier Thursday. "But today I have to reassess that statement."

With elections nearing, fellow Democrats had hoped to avoid a trial.

The charges are the equivalent of an indictment, not a conviction. Rangel could have faced a report criticizing his conduct, a reprimand, or censure by the full House or even expulsion — the latter was very unlikely in this case.

Without a deal, a rare ethics trial will probably start in September. An adjucatory subcommittee of the ethics committee will hear the case and decide the outcome.

Rangel remains popular in his home district, but Democratic primary challenger Adam Clayton Powell IV is catching up. One recent poll had Rangel at 39 percent and Powell at 22 percent.

DOWNLOAD COMMITTEE DOCUMENTS (PDF)

• STATEMENT OF ALLEGED VIOLATION (SAV)
• RANGEL'S RESPONSE TO SAV
• SAV DOCUMENTS
• RANGEL'S EXHIBITS IN REPONSE TO SAV
• STATEMENT OF REP. ZOE LOFGREN
• STATEMENT OF REP. JO BONNER
• STATEMENT OF REP. GENE GREEN