The Hill reports that Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has at last hired a forensic investigator to review his financial records and ethics filings:
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has hired the accounting firm of Watkins, Meegan, Drury and Company to investigate his financial records and prepare a report for the House ethics committee. The selection of Watkins, Meegan comes two months after Rangel first announced he would hire a forensic auditor to investigate 20 years of his personal income taxes and financial disclosure records, which are riddled with areas [sic. — presumably ‘errors’]. The Washington area-based public accounting firm employs 200 professionals and has been in business for more than 30 years. Mary Lou Gervie, a forensic accountant and a former revenue agent with the IRS, will lead the investigations into Rangel’s record, Rangel’s office said in a release.
Rangel’s attorney–Lanny Davis–had previously said that Rangel would seek to hire an investigator who did not have a direct relation with Rangel:
Attorney Lanny Davis asserted sole responsibility for the protracted search, stating: “I set up a number of criteria in order to establish this is a truly independent person.” Among those requirements, Davis said the accounting firms considered could not engage in lobbying activities before the Ways and Means Committee, could not make campaign contributions to Rangel and could have no other contacts with the lawmaker.
Rangel may have succeeded in hiring an investigator with no business before the committee and no history of donations to him, but according to CQ Moneyline, the officers of the firm have made a number of political donations. Several donated to Al Gore’s 2000 presidential bid, several to former Republican Senator Al D’Amato, and a number to other candidates and committees–both Republican and Democrat. Rangel’s lead investigator is reportedly Mary Lou Gervie, who donated to John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004. A single donation to a Democrat doesn’t necessarily suggest a lack of impartiality, but it’s hard to believe that Rangel was unable to find a competent investigator who had refrained from active participation in national politics.
