Ethics panel to reprimand Rangel

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Ethics panel to reprimand Rangel

WASHINGTON, A congressional panel has accepted a recommendation that a reprimand be issued against Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., for violating House rules or federal law.

House ethics investigators had recommended the reprimand, considered a moderate punishment -- more serious than the minor sanction of admonishment but not especially severe -- The New York Times reported Friday.

A subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee that included Reps. Gene Green, D-Texas, Jo Bonner, R-Ala., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, decided against sterner action, which could have included censure or expulsion.

Among other things, Rangel is accused of soliciting donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York from businesses appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee when he was its chairman; using a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem for his campaign office; failing to include more than $600,000 on his financial disclosure report; and failing to pay taxes on rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.

Green said no deal had been reached with Rangel to avoid a trial, The Washington Post reported.

Rangel said the ethics panel violated his constitutional rights by not giving him enough time to rebut the 13 charges against him, The Hill reported.

An investigative subcommittee of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Thursday submitted the allegations, including charges that Rangel's conduct discredited the chamber. The charges were announced after efforts to reach a settlement failed.

Rangel has denied any wrongdoing, calling the report "deeply flawed."

"The undisputed evidence in the record … is that Congressman Rangel did not dispense any political favors, that he did not intentionally violate any law, rule or regulation, and that he did not misuse his public office for private gain," the veteran congressman said in a statement.

The Hill said a trial is expected to begin in mid-September, less than two months before the midterm elections. Rangel, who has served 20 terms, faces a competitive primary Sept. 14.

McCaul said the unanimous findings of the ethics panel, if proven, indicate that Rangel broke federal statutes as well as House rules.
 
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