A House ethics panel leveled 13 charges against embattled Rep. Charles Rangel today, ending a nearly two-year-long investigation into the New York Democrat's conduct.

In a 40-page "statement of alleged violations," a four-member panel found that Rangel had used his office to solicit donations from organizations with business before the powerful House Ways and Means Committee he once chaired and that he failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in income.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, who headed up the investigative panel, said the charges generally fall into four categories: Rangel's solicitation of donations for a public service center bearing his name in New York; errors on his financial disclosure statements; use of rent-subsidized apartments; and failure to report and pay taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.

"One of the most difficult tasks assigned to a member of Congress is to sit in judgment of a colleague," Green said. "The task is even more difficult when the subject of the investigation has befriended and mentored so many new member of Congress."

The committee did not say when it will meet again to discuss the charges. The Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, reports that Rangel's lawyers have reached a plea agreement with the committee to avoid the trial from continuing. However, the ethics committee would have to vote to approve any such agreement.

The seriousness of the hearing was underscored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., chairwoman of the full committee, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

"We live in a time where public skepticism about the institutions in our country is very high," Lofgren said. "A public office is a public trust."

Said McCaul: "Credibility is what's at stake here...The American people deserve to hear the truth in this case."

The Rangel controversy is already playing into the November midterm election that will decide control of Congress. Republicans have been reminding voters that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi orchestrated the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress in part by promising to "drain the swamp" of ethics violations.

"The fact is that the swamp has not been drained," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said today.

Two Democrats facing competitive reelection campaigns this year have called on Rangel to resign and many others have returned his campaign contributions. Asked about the potential political impact of the hearing, Pelosi said, "the chips will have to fall where they may politically."

(Posted by John Fritze and Naomi Jagoda)