Rangel Preserves Pelosi’s Support Despite Ethics Investigation

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t budge yesterday on her position that New York Rep. Charles Rangel should remain chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, despite new calls for his ouster.

“I do not think he should step aside,” Pelosi told reporters yesterday.

She said that Rangel’s fate should be decided by the House Ethics Committee, a secretive panel that has twice expanded its investigation of the embattled chairman but has given no indication when its probe will be completed. The probe covers numerous allegations, including that Rangel failed to pay taxes on income from a vacation home.

Read more: (Daphne Retter, “Pelosi Angels for Rangel,” New York Post, 9/11/09)