Thread: Rep. Rangel found guilty of breaking ethics rules UPDATED

Nov 16, 2010

Rep. Charles Rangel found guilty of breaking ethics rules

12:26 PM
Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET

A House ethics panel has found Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., guilty on 11 counts of breaking ethics rules.

USA TODAY's Fredreka Schouten reports the committee deadlocked on whether Rangel, who has represented Harlem since 1970, violated the ban on accepting gifts.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said there was "clear and convincing evidence" on the charges. She just finished reading the votes taken in private of the bipartisan trial committee's deliberations.

Rangel, a former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was charged on 13 counts, including misusing his office to raise money for a public policy center bearing his name and failure to pay taxes on rental income from a Dominican villa. Two charges had been rolled into one, Lofgren said.

"We have tried to act with fairness, led only by the facts and the law," Lofgren said. "We believe we have accomplished that mission."

The adjudicatory panel, which served as judges on the Rangel case, will now issue a report to the full ethics committee and then the full House recommending punishment.

Rangel, appearing alone without a lawyer, walked out of the committee's deliberations on Monday. He said he was "not being treated fairly."

"Fifty years of public service is on the line," said Rangel, who gave up the Ways and Means committee chairmanship while he was being investigated.

Rangel was under investigation for two years. In July, he was formally charged. The original 13 counts, according to a report from an ethics panel, alleged Rangel broke rules in four broad areas. The charges stated that Rangel improperly solicited donations for a public center and library bearing his name at the City College of New York, failed to report income and assets, accepted a rent-stablized apartment in Manhattan for use as his campaign offices, and did not pay federal taxes on rental income from the Dominican Republic property.

In 2002, the last time an ethics trial was held by the House, Democrat James Traficant was found guilty and later expelled.

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the panel, said today he hopes the "consensus" reached by the committee will usher in a "new era" and restore credibility "to the people's House."

The House ethics committee is scheduled to begin a trial Nov. 29 on whether Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., used her clout to help a bank in which her husband had a financial interest. She has denied any wrongdoing.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which manages GOP political campaigns, said the House ethics panel's decision "is the nail in the coffin of what Nancy Pelosi promised would be the 'most ethical Congress in history'."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... s-rules-/1

Now can they kick him out or censure him?

W

"Fifty years of public service is on the line," said Rangel,

These people think that because they have HELD a seat for YEARS, that they should be forgiven for all their dirty deeds...
Well, YOUR dirty deeds have discounted all of your years... as corrupt!
That's what happens when you allow your service to be over-ridden by corruption!

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Now can they kick him out or censure him?

W

Possible sanctions include a House vote deploring Rangel's conduct, a fine and denial of privileges.

http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_16628210

And next time they might smack his hand with a ruler.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Now can they kick him out or censure him?

W

Possible sanctions include a House vote deploring Rangel's conduct, a fine and denial of privileges.

http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_16628210

And next time they might smack his hand with a ruler.

If this were us in the civilian world we would lose our JOB!

From a C.N.N. article.

The ethics committee -- formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- can recommend penalties ranging from a fine to expulsion. A censure is typically considered to be the most serious penalty short of explusion. It generally requires a congressman to stand on the floor of the House while being publicly rebuked.