Rangel Tangled in New Ethics Probe

Rangel Tangled in New Ethics Probe
Dems Scramble As Charlie Rangel Finds Himself In Yet Another Ethical Mess

SPIN CYCLE:
Speaker Pelosi and Dems Claim They Will Not Tolerate Corruption, Ban Corporate Travel Gifts

“Democrats declare that it is time to end the culture of corruption prevailing through all levels of government. We are committed to immediate change to lead this country in a new direction, to put an end to business as usual, and to make certain this nation’s leaders serve the people’s interests, not special interests.” They would also, “Prohibit the receipt of gifts, including gifts of meals, entertainment and travel, from lobbyists. Prohibit travel on corporate jets.” (“Nancy Pelosi’s: A New Direction For America”, page 26-27)

RINSE CYCLE:
Harlem Dem Charlie Rangel, Already the Focus of One Investigation Over Unpaid Taxes, Jets Off To Caribbean On Corporate Dime

“Already embroiled in an ethics probe now entering its tenth month, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, received more bad news Wednesday night as the House ethics committee announced it would look into Caribbean trips taken by the veteran lawmaker and four other Democrats.

In a statement released late Wednesday night, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the chairwoman and ranking member of the ethics committee, announced that the panel had voted to create a four-member investigative subcommittee to determine whether the trips violated House gift rules…

… The latest step by the ethics committee ensures that Rangel, who is already the subject of a lengthy, and expanding, ethics committee investigation into his personal finances, will remain at the center of the growing fight with Republicans over alleged ethical violations by the majority party.

GOP leaders have successfully pushed for an ethics committee probe into lawmakers’ relationships with the PMA Group, a now defunct lobbying firm at the center of a Justice Department criminal probe…

… The ethics committee first voted on Sept. 24, at Rangel’s request, to create an investigative subcommittee to look into the New York Democrat’s personal finances, including his use of rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury Harlem building, his failure to fully pay taxes on a resort home in the Dominican Republic and his use of official House stationery to solicit potential donors for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service in New York.

The ethics panel then widened the probe in early December to look into allegations, first reported by The New York Times, that Rangel used his post as Ways and Means chairman to help a million-dollar donor to the Rangel Center retain a lucrative tax break.

Rangel has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and paid more than $10,800 in back taxes. The ethics committee does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Rangel has spent heavily on lawyers to represent him during the ethics investigation, paying out nearly $670,000 to his attorneys through the end of March, according to his Federal Election Commission reports.

But both Rangel and Pelosi have been wrong in their predictions about how quickly the ethics committee investigation could be completed.

Pelosi said before Thanksgiving last year that the probe would most likely be finished by the start of the 111th Congress in January, but with the House scheduled to adjourn for the weeklong July 4 recess Friday and no end to the Rangel case in sight, that target has been missed by six months.

Rangel himself told a Dow Jones reporter on May 24 that he was “optimistic that this very soon will be wrapped up,” but a month later, the investigation is going to proceed well into July, according to House sources.

In response to the controversy, House Republicans have tried to force Rangel to give up his gavel as chairman of Ways and Means, at least for the period that he was under investigation. Democrats have banded together to defeat the GOP effort, and Rangel has immersed himself in the ongoing legislative battles over health care and energy reform…” (“Ten months in, new twist in Rangel ethics inquiry”, Politico, June 25, 2009)