Arcuri Distances Himself from Rangel Mess

A day earlier, U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, called for Rangel to step down as chairman of Ways and Means Committee over his ethical lapses.

Arcuri, whose campaign received $23,000 from Rangel’s campaign and political action committee in 2006 and 2007, also announced that he would be donating those contributions to charity, according to a news release and Arcuri’s Chief of Staff Sam Marchio. Arcuri didn’t receive any contributions from Rangel in 2008, 2009 or 2010, Marchio said.

“As a former district attorney, I know that in matters such as this it is always important to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” Arcuri said in e-mailed statements Tuesday. “Given the House ethics committee’s recent decision to reprimand Congressman Rangel, I feel strongly that he should step down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.”

Rangel took trips to Antigua in 2007 and St. Maarten in 2008 that had corporate sponsorship, a violation of congressional gift rules. Members of his staff had attempted to warn him of that, the ethics committee determined last week.

In addition to the trips, Rangel still faces potentially more serious allegations, including failing to disclose rental income on a villa in the Dominican Republic, use of his congressional office to raise money for a college center in his name and belated financial disclosure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously unreported wealth.

Since the ethics committee admonished Rangel Friday, some members of Congress had started to call for him to step down. Marchio said he believes Arcuri is the first member of the New York delegation to ask for Rangel to step down as chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel’s questionable ethics have been the focus of Republican attacks for years. In the 2008 election, Arcuri’s Republican opponent Richard Hanna issued news releases calling on Arcuri to return the campaign contributions.

Read more: (Bryon Ackerman, “Arcuri Distances Himself from Rangel Mess,” The Observer-Dispatch, 3/02/10)