House leader Rangel calls for ethics probe on himself Nick Langewis

Published: Wednesday July 23, 2008





Print This Email This Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has an ethics complaint... against himself. As promised Tuesday, Rangel requested that the House open a probe into whether he "inadvertently failed to comply with House Ethics Rules regarding the use of congressional letterhead" in June 2005 and March 2007 to arrange talks with charity leaders and the business community regarding possible donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. Rangel, 78, secured a $1.9 million earmark, with the ultimate fundraising goal being $30 million, last year. "Rangel, who is unbeatable (if not untouchable) in his district, hopes to use the Democrat-led Ethics Committee probe to clear his name in the aftermath of a [July 16th] Washington Post article that raised questions about the matter," the New York Daily News charged Wednesday. "Was my hope that these meetings would result in making financial donations to this important project with such an important public purpose?" Rangel wrote. "Of course." The letter, nine pages in all, is considered by Public Citizen's Craig Holman to be a possible smokescreen to distract the House ethics committee from Rangel's use of a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem's Lenox Terrace building as office space, a violation of city regulations. Rangel has a total of four rent-controlled apartments in New York City, and most citizens aren't allowed more than one. "If members of the ethics committee opt to investigate only the contents of Rangels letter, they will not be doing their jobs," Holman told The Hill. "This is far more serious than the misuse of congressional office materials, because it shows a pattern, on the part of the owners of the apartment complex, of giving out gifts to public officials as a means of influence-peddling." The mission of the Charles B. Rangel Center is to attract youth from varying racial and economic backgrounds into careers within government and non-profit organizations. While about 30% of the United States population is non-white, the Center's mission statement reads, studies indicated that 14% of top positions in federal agencies were held by non-white people, as were 17% of senior leadership positions in legislative branch agencies. "The Charles B. Rangel Center at City College," the statement goes on, "is committed to helping ensure that those who run our nation will better reflect our citizenry." As the Center will also serve as an archive for records from Rangel's political career as well as provide him with office space after he retires, donations could be considered a personal financial gain for him.