Rangel Denies He Made Inappropriate Pitch for Funds

Rep. Charles Rangel vehemently denied any impropriety Saturday following a newspaper report chronicling how he sought a donation for a public service center built in his honor from a firm with business before his committee.

“I would never do anything to embarrass my committee, the Congress or my country,” Rangel (D-Harlem) told the Daily News. “It’s really painful to make the front page of The New York Times with a nothing story because clearly I was supporting expanding educational opportunity for people.”

The Times published a story Saturday reporting that Rangel met with officials at American International Group, the insurance giant, in April to discuss a donation, perhaps as large as $10 million, for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York.

Read more: (Michael Saul, “Rep. Charles Rangel Denies He Made Inappropriate Pitch for Funds,” New York Daily News, 1/04/09)