WHO: Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
WHAT: Peters received $10,000 from Rep. Charles Rangel’s National Leadership PAC, the political action committee of the powerful New York Democrat who until recently was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that writes tax law.
WHY IT’S DIRTY: Rangel is being investigated on multiple issues by the House Ethics Committee, including failure to report income from properties he owns in New York and the Dominican Republic. A company that gave $1 million to a New York school facility that will bear Rangel’s name subsequently received lucrative tax breaks, and he has reportedly solicited political contributions on official stationery. Rangel has been admonished by the House ethics committee and forced to give up his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship.
WILL PETERS GIVE IT BACK? Peters posted a statement saying that he would “donate the $16,000 he received from Mr. Rangel’s campaign committees ($2,000 last year and $14,000 during the 2008 campaign cycle) to local Oakland County charities.”
THE SCORE:
Number of Democrats who have given it back: 17
Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0
DONATED THIS OR OTHER DIRTY MONEY WATCH-HIGHLIGHTED CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARITY: Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Rep. David Price, D-N.C., Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Ill., Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio, Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C., Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Fla., Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz.
YOUR TURN: You can reach Peters’ Washington office at 202-225-5802.
Don’t know who is your congressman? Go to house.gov and look in the upper left-hand corner. Don’t know who are your state’s two senators? Go to senate.gov and look in the upper right-hand corner.
Dirty Money is researched and written by Mark Hemingway of The Washington Examiner’s editorial page staff, with the help of Examiner researcher Heather Hunt.
