Email from Judicial Watch


Rangel Saga Continues - Refuses to Step Down

Over the last couple of months there has been a steady stream of ethics scandals involving New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel. It has gotten so bad that even Nancy Pelosi, who has made a habit of ignoring Democratic scandals, reportedly urged Rangel to step down from his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

No dice. According to The Associated Press:

see: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

Rep. Charles Rangel will not step down as chairman of a powerful tax-writing committee as he undergoes an ethics investigation by fellow lawmakers, his lawyer said Tuesday...

"Mr. Rangel has not considered, nor has it ever been on the table, that he would step aside from his current position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee," said [Lanny] Davis. "He has no intention of leaving that position, even on a temporary basis..."

Lanny Davis, by the way, is a former Clinton White House White House lawyer who was in charge of damage control for the Clinton scandals.

Here are the facts about Rangel.

* Rangel, chairman of the committee in charge of writing tax policy for the entire nation, admitted that he "forgot" to pay taxes on $75,000 in income he received from his rental property in the Dominican Republic.
* Rangel admitted he paid no mortgage interest on the property for over 10 years.

see: http://www.newsday.com/services/newspap ... 0230.story


* Rangel also allegedly used his congressional office to secure private funding from companies that do business before the Ways and Means Committee for his Charles B. Rangel Center, a private library that will house his papers after he retires,
* Rangel has also been accused of using his influence to keep four extremely rare rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem while his neighbors are being subject to eviction.

see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/nyreg ... ref=slogin

(I'd say the facts are pretty clear and do not appear to validate Rangel's blanket claim that he's "done nothing wrong.")

In the AP story, Lanny Davis says of Rangel, "[He] is a simple man. He has not had complicated partnerships, investments, investment strategies. He has a relatively simple financial life..."

I guess that explains why Rangel now has to hire a "forensic accounting firm" to review his taxes for the last 20 years in order to root out all the mistakes and omissions.

Any action by the Ethics Committee aside, let's hope the Department of Justice initiates a corruption investigation of Rangel.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised a new day for House ethics when she and her party took over leadership of the House in 2006. Two years later, this promise remains unkept and the public trust remains in the hands of thoroughly corrupt members like Charles Rangel.

Heaven help us when it does, but Congress eventually will have to deal with the burgeoning financial crisis. Does Nancy Pelosi seriously think that Charlie Rangel should be among her leadership that deals with this crisis?