Washington Post - Rangel Insists Ethics Tumult Will Pass

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Washington Post - Rangel Insists Ethics Tumult Will Pass
In New York and Washington, Support for Lawmaker Appears to Be Steady

By Christopher Lee and Lyndsey Layton

This is what defiance looks like: a figure in a dark business suit, gold pocket square and silver pompadour, refusing to be driven from the job he loves.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), 78, addressing two visitors in his office near the House chamber, says he won't cave in to Republicans and other critics who demand that he step aside as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee until the ethics cloud surrounding him clears.

"When they call you everything and just repeat every week, every day, accusations, it's discomfortable," Rangel said last week in an interview, in between trips to the House chamber for speeches and votes. "But, hey, I'm not in a nursing home hearing that. I'm on the job, trying to deal with disaster and tax extensions and energy and peace and trying to get the hell out of this fiscal crisis that our country finds itself in."

Rangel's perch at the top has been threatened by a series of disclosures about his finances, real estate dealings and use of official resources for personal ends.

The congressman denies doing anything "morally wrong" and has sought exoneration from the House ethics committee, a bipartisan panel with a reputation for giving little more than wrist slaps in recent years. The flap has embarrassed some Democrats, emboldened GOP opponents and generated calls for Rangel to relinquish the chairmanship from hometown newspapers, the New York Times and the New York Post.

In the interview on Wednesday, the day the ethics panel opened its investigation of Rangel's activities, the congressman blamed "irresponsible" reporters and opportunistic Republicans for most of his troubles.

In his gravelly voice, he said the tumult will pass. At worst, he said, he could be accused of sloppy record-keeping.

"No one would ever be able to say that it's a scandal or that I was corrupt," Rangel said. "They may not be able to remove this from my stainless reputation over 50 years. But they will be able to say that 'Rangel never intentionally violated the spirit of the law, or evaded or avoided federal taxes, or attempted to mislead the ethics committee.' "

In power circles in New York and Washington, support for Rangel appears steady. A source close to the House leadership said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) backs the congressman, and that he is not in danger of losing his chairmanship. At the annual African American Day Parade in Harlem last Sunday, Rangel was greeted by chants of "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!" said former New York mayor David N. Dinkins, who rode beside him in a convertible.

Political analysts say the dean of the New York delegation, routinely reelected with more than 90 percent of the vote, is a virtual lock to win a 20th term in November.

But the congressman does have opposition. Craig Schley, 45, a community organizer and former Rangel intern, collected nearly 6,000 signatures in five weeks to run as an independent. He says Rangel has encouraged development and gentrification at the expense of ordinary Harlem residents.

"It's simple: You put a person's business, home or lease at peril, you're not going to get the votes," Schley said. "That political machine that he has -- we suspect that he's going to have to oil it."

Michael Henry Adams, a Harlem historian, said Schley does not pose a threat. "But the fact that he was able . . . to get on the ballot seems to indicate that there is a certain amount of displeasure with Congressman Rangel," he said.

Rangel, a high school dropout, became the most powerful African American in Congress when he ascended to the Ways and Means chairmanship last year. The Democrat had raised millions for his party, built alliances and waited out Republican rule so that when Democrats won control of Congress two years ago, he would be ensured the plum post.

Rangel was elected to Congress from the state assembly in 1970 by ousting longtime Democratic Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a Harlem political hero whose last years were marred by corruption allegations that prompted his expulsion from office. Powell sued to win back his seat, but when he returned, Rangel defeated him in a primary contest.

Rangel became part of a quartet of young black political leaders in New York that included Dinkins; former state senator Basil Paterson, the father of the current New York governor; and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president. The three have been offering Rangel counsel through his recent troubles.

"This appears to me, and to Charlie, that this is clearly a partisan effort," Dinkins said. "The point is, he didn't shoot anybody. Whatever errors of omission occurred, it wasn't designed for him to enrich himself."

Rangel's political muscle was on display earlier this year when he delivered his district to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in New York's Democratic presidential primary -- the only black-majority district in the state that did not line up behind Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Rangel's troubles began this summer with a succession of news stories, each revealing a new ethics problem.

Rangel acknowledged this month that he had not disclosed or paid taxes on at least $75,000 in rental income from a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic that he has owned since 1988 -- a home financed, in part, with a no-interest loan from the developer. It was an embarrassing admission for a politician who heads the committee that writes the nation's tax code.

Two weeks ago, he wrote checks totaling $10,800 to the Internal Revenue Service and New York state to cover back taxes. He pledged to hire a forensic accountant to untangle his records and to release the accountant's report and 20 years of tax returns.

Rangel also came under fire for occupying three rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury building in Harlem, news that did not go over well in a city where affordable housing is scarce. He gave up one apartment he used as a campaign office after critics noted that the practice violated state law. Some contend that Rangel's below-market rent amounts to an improper gift from the landlord; the congressman disagrees.

Rangel sent at least 150 letters on congressional stationery to philanthropic and business leaders as part of efforts to raise $30 million for the new Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. Ethics experts note that some potential donors had business interests before his committee, and that using official resources to solicit money for outside charities violates House rules. Rangel said he considered the letters official business, but conceded that he might use personal stationery next time.

The ethics panel recently added an item: Rangel's long-term storage of a broken-down 1972 Mercedes-Benz sedan in a House garage, also an apparent rules violation.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) unsuccessfully sought to have Rangel censured. He and other GOP leaders say the congressman should relinquish his chairmanship pending the ethics investigation.

"In a time of serious financial crisis, Charlie Rangel remains the chairman of the most powerful committee in Congress, despite his own admission that he is incapable of keeping his financial house in order," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

In Pennsylvania, Iowa and Florida, among other states, Republicans have attacked Democratic candidates for accepting contributions from Rangel's political action committee. Rangel has steered more than $836,000 to dozens of candidates in this election cycle.

Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) recently redirected a $5,000 donation from Rangel to local nonprofits. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D), who is trying to unseat indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), donated a $10,000 contribution from Rangel to the YMCA in light of the ethics concerns.

Norman J. Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said Rangel might get a scolding from the ethics panel but probably little else.

"Clearly, he has some explaining to do, and it's clearly an enormous embarrassment," Ornstein said. "But these are pretty trivial things unless there is something more."

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