Murphy donates Rangel's funds

Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy said Monday he will donate to charity $20,000 in campaign contributions from Rep. Charles Rangel and Rep. Maxine Waters, who both face charges of ethical violations.

Murphy’s announcement came four days after the 8th District Democrat called for former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel to resign from Congress. A House investigatory panel last week alleged Rangel failed to report rental income from a vacation property and omitted $600,000 in income from his financial disclosure statements in violation of congressional ethics rules and federal law.

“To call on a senior member of my party to resign, that was an important step,” Murphy said Monday, noting he was the third House Democrat to do so. “I didn’t hesitate as the seriousness of these allegations came to light.”

However, Murphy would not commit last week to returning $19,000 he received from Rangel in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles. He noted that since the allegations first came to light in 2008, he hasn’t taken a dime from Rangel.

Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, who is challenging Murphy to win back the congressional seat he lost in 2006, called for Murphy to return the Rangel contributions and other allegedly tainted campaign money.

He said Monday Murphy needs to return $1,000 he received from Waters, a California Democrat who was charged Monday with ethics violations for allegedly using her influence for financial gain and violating conflict of interest violations.

Murphy spokeswoman Sara Schaumburg said the Waters donation was included in the money Murphy returned Monday.

Murphy said he decided to announce he would give the Rangel money to two Bucks County veterans groups after an editorial published Sunday in this newspaper called on Murphy to give back the contributions to further distance himself from Rangel.

“I didn’t disagree with that editorial,” Murphy said.

Murphy was also critical of Fitzpatrick’s characterization in a news release July 23 that Murphy had voted twice to allow Rangel to keep his position as head of the Ways and Means Committee.

Murphy said Fitzpatrick is mischaracterizing a pair of bipartisan procedural votes Oct. 7 to allow the independent ethics panel to continue its investigation into Rangel’s affairs. Schaumburg noted conservative New York Republican Congressman Peter T. King was quoted in a New York Times article warning that removing Rangel before the committee reached a conclusion would be a dangerous precedent.

Murphy also said Fitzpatrick accepted more than $200,000 from PACs linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Murphy cited a January 2006 analysis of campaign finance records by the Courier Times.

Fitzpatrick donated to charity $21,500 he received from political action committees headed by embattled Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif. However, Murphy said, Fitzpatrick never discussed what happened to the remaining $190,000, Murphy said.

Fitzpatrick said he never met or had any dealings with Abramoff.

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