The ethics case against Rep. Charlie Rangel concluded Monday, after the clearly angered Democrat from New York walked out of the hearing and the ethics committee decided that it already had enough “indisputable” evidence to decide quickly, and in secret, whether Rangle is guilty of 13 ethics charges against him.
SClBThe panel’s decision to forgo days of testimony by dozens of witnesses cuts short what would have likely been a highly publicized and embarrassing trial for both Rangel and House Democrats, who won a majority in the House in 2006, in part, by promising a more ethical Congress.
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SClBNow in the last days of their majority, Democrats also face a second ethics trial this month, this one for Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who is accused of using her influence as a member of the House Financial Services Committee to secure a federal bailout for her husband’s bank.
SClBIn Rangel’s case, the eight-member, bipartisan committee decided not to pursue a full trial based on a rule that allows members to accept the evidence they already have as uncontested facts instead, a senior ethics committee aide said.
SClBRangel’s hearing went on without him after he stormed out. Rangel left the hearing within the first hour, angry that the committee would not give him time to get a new lawyer. His previous attorneys quit after Rangel couldn’t continue to pay legal bills that had already hit $2 million over two years.
SClB”I don’t think it’s fair that I participate in any type of proceeding, if in fact what you are basically telling me, that the political calendar will not allow you enough time to allow me to get a lawyer at this crucial point in my life,” Rangel said before walking out of the hearing.
SClBCommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., pointed out that Rangel had more than a month to hire someone.
SClBRangel, the former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, faces charges ranging from improper use of congressional stationery to finessing favorable legislation for several big companies in exchange for large donations to a school in his name. He is also accused of improper use of a rent-stabilized apartment in his Harlem district and of failing to report on his taxes 17 years of income earned from a beach villa in the Dominican Republic.
SClBIf the panel finds Rangel guilty of one or more charges, it will hold a public hearing to determine his punishment, ranging from an admonishment to expulsion from Congress.
SClBBut based on testimony provided by the ethics panel’s top lawyer, it’s unlikely the committee will vote to toss out the 20-term lawmaker.
SClBEthics committee general counsel Blake Chisam said he believes Rangel’s tax omissions and other actions amount mostly to sloppy bookkeeping and not corruption.
SClB”I see no evidence of corruption,” Chisam admitted under questioning by panel member G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., a Rangel defender. “I believe that the congressman, quite frankly, was overzealous in many of the things that he did, and at least sloppy in his personal finances.”
SClBWhen Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, asked if “sloppiness is a defense,” Chisam responded, “I don’t believe it’s a defense at all. In fact, I believe that it’s a violation of the rule.”
