Stark Investigation Could Endanger Democrats’ Plans

With its murky Christmas Eve announcement that Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., was the target of an unspecified ethics investigation, the House Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) Committee has added new uncertainties to the fate of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and potentially fueled Republican charges of House Democratic misconduct.

Prospective charges against the 78-year-old Stark are intriguing for several reasons: As the No. 2 Democrat on Ways and Means behind Rangel, 79, Stark is next in line to take the powerful chairmanship if Rangel exits, voluntarily or otherwise. Rangel has been the target of a separate ethics inquiry for more than a year into several aspects of his personal finances; many editorial writers — as well as Republicans — have demanded that he step aside as head of the tax-writing panel.

Because Stark’s East Bay district is separated by only a few miles of the San Francisco Bay from the district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he might seem a logical successor to Rangel.

Read more: (Richard E. Cohen, “Stark Probe Could Scramble Democrats’ Plans,” National Journal, 12/30/09)