Rangel Charged with Ethics Violations

After a long investigation, a panel within the House ethics committee charged Harlem Representative Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations involving his use of political power and influence to push legislation and raise money for his namesake, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. The charges also surrounded his use of four rent-controlled apartments in New York, as the city's rent stabilization program is supposed to apply to one's primary residence only. Finally, the panel charged him with failing to publicly report the rental income from a unit within the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets such as a credit union IRA, mutual funds and stocks.

As a result of the charges levied, the case will proceed to a House trial, where a panel of eight Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The committee has a variety of options if they find the charges proven, which range from expulsion from the House, reprimand, a fine or no action. (The last lawmaker to face a public trial, in 2002, was Ohio Representative James Traficant, a Democrat, who ended up in prison.) 

Since the Democrats already stripped Rangel of his chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee due to an initial scandal involving the corporate sponsorship of two trips to Caribbean conferences, what more can, or will, they do to old Charlie? Apparently, he was worried enough about the answer to that question to try to strike a deal. Officials said that in the current case, Rangel's attorney tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement which would have required Rangel to agree that he violated ethics rules. Perhaps he thinks that indictments could follow? They should. Everyone is sick of politicians passing legislation to further curtail the control we have over our lives and money while simultaneously refusing to obey them. Stay tuned...the hearing starts Thursday.