Ethics Committee: 13 Charges Against Charlie Rangel

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., pauses to speak as he enters his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 29, 2010.

/ AP

Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET

A public trial into ethics charges against New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel began today. Lawmakers cast the proceedings as a necessary exercise to regain the public's trust in Congress.

The 20-term representative is charged with 13 "very serious" allegations, said Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the ranking Republican in the House Ethics Committee. The charges are related to allegations Rangel inappropriately solicited donations for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, left errors and omissions on his financial dicslosure forms, failed to report and pay taxes on rental income for a beach villa, and inappropriately allowed his campaign committees to use a rent subsized apartment.

Rangel attempted to reach a settlement with the committee to avoid a humiliating public trial, but no deal was reached. The start of trial now marks the culmination of a two-year investigation into the charges against him.

An ethics committee investigator said the case could still be settled, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports.

If the lawmakers on the committee --- which includes an equal number of Democrats and Republicans -- find Rangel guilty, punishment could range from a report criticizing his conduct to a reprimand or censure by the House to a vote to expel him.

"We have an obligation to Mr. Rangel so that he has his day in court, so to speak," McCaul said as the trial opened. "We also have an obligation to the American people to protect the integrity and accountability of the House."

He added that given that just 11 percent of Americans have a positive perception of Congress, there is added pressure to ensure the trial is "fair, open and conducted in a strictly nonpartisan manner."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said this Congress is ushering in a new era of accountability, McCaul noted.

"I agree," he said. "Let us begin today."

Committee chairwoman Zoe Lofgren of California also said the committee has a responsibility to rebuild the public's trust in Congress.

In his 40 years in office, Rangel has wielded substantial power. Until March he served as head of the Ways and Means Committee, where he oversaw policy on taxes, trade, health care, Medicare and Social Security. He stepped down from that position, however, after the ethics committee admonished him for a separate ethics incident -- the committee said he should have known that two trip he took to the Caribbean for conferences were paid for with corporate money.

"Sixty years ago I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea and as a result I haven't had a bad day since," Rangel told reporters this morning. "But today I have to reassess that statement."

The scandal has prompted at least three Democrats to call for Rangel's resignation.

"I think as members of Congress we have duty to hold each other to a high standard," Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick said on CBSNews.com's Washington Unplugged today. "I'm not happy with what's been discovered by the Ethics Committee and I think he should step down."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this morning that the political chips will fall where they may and there must be accountabilty, CBS News' Jill Jackson reports.

House Republican Leader John Boehner said this morning that "this is a sad moment for our Congress." He tried to cast the issues as larger than Rangel.

"It's about Speaker Pelosi and her promise to drain the swamp," he said, as Jackson reports.

Update: Rangel submitted a 32-page response to the charges that said, "The Statement of Alleged Violation ('SAV') in this case is deeply flawed in its factual premises and legal theories... The undisputed evidence in the record--assembled by the Investigative Subcommittee over its nearly two-year investigation--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."

Statement of Alleged Violations
Documents Related to Statement of Alleged Violations
Statement of Charles B. Rangel in Response to the Statement of Alleged Violation

[carolegene3579-229316745832228]

PUT THIS RANGEL CREEP IN JAIL WHERE HE BELONGS CONGRESS - BOTH CHAMBERS!!!

[carolegene3579-229316745832228]

TOPIC: CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT AGAIN !!!

Copy to:

I beg all of you to contact your Congressional Reps and send the same message. This is the perfect opportunity to tell the House of Representatives -especially Nancy Pelosi would trade her soul for a deal - and Senate members that we WILL NOT TOLERATE politicians who commit illegal actions whatsoever. Please do this.



?CONGRESSMAN SNYDER: DON'T YOU DARE COMPROMISE THE INTEGRITY OF WE ARKANSANS IF A SPECIAL JURY FINDS CHARLES RANGEL GUILTY OF ANY CHARGE OF FRAUD, MISCONDUCT OR ANY OTHER VIOLATION OF ETHICS OR LAWS. YOU GET RID OF HIM AND I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT POLITICAL CONNECTIONS HE HAS TO YOU, OR ANYONE ELSE!!! HE'S OUT IF ONLY ONE CHARGE AGAINST HIM IS PROVED. !!!!?

[cdpjudith]

Power corrupts, that's for sure. If you kick them all out and vote in new people, they will eventually become equally corrupt. It is a rare person who gets to the place that Rangel has does so with a blemish-free record.
I agree that if a person is found guilty of ethics charges, or whatever wrongdoing, they need to be dealth with, but the idea of just voting them all out and starting over is unhelpful. Furthermore, if any one of us had our backgrounds scrutinized, it is very likely something would be found. Okay maybe not so serious as Rangel, but most of us don't have as much power as Rangel. If we did, who knows.

[formrusmcsgt]

Our founding fathers were visionaries but they never envisioned the "professional" politician.

In their time, you'd leave your farm or business, go serve, and then another citizen would do the same....viewed as a community service, so to speak.

If they HAD envisioned the "professional" politican, they would have set one-term and out limits for all.

[wfw3536]

Don't worry the democrats will let him off with a slap on his hands. They have been protecting him for the last 2 years.

[formrusmcsgt]

Of course he should step down, but he won't.

It's always the case that, although guilty as sin, they proclaim their innocence until they are dragged kicking and screaming from office, and hopefully to jail.

[abbe91]

RealWorldNow

"How about some facts....like Jefferson, 90,000 in freezer...Spitzer, charges withheld... Edwards, love child? Etc."


I take that your "Etc" stands for "Ted Stevens,Rick Renzi, Randy Cunningham, Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, Katherine Harris, Dennis Hastert
Bob Ney"

And for the "love child affair", at least Edwards didn't accuse an opponent on the same subject, like the hypocrit Gringrich going after
Clinton while cheating his own wife.

[nomossonmyrocks]

It is time to vote them all out. People blame the presidents, all of them have had fingers pointed at them from time to time for various things and the only consistency through all of the messes that the people of this country have endured through the decades are the life long "politicians" at all levels of government, local, state and federal. If you are really tired of all that has gone on and is going on then vote them out. All of them. And when all of the familiar faces start throwing their hats in the ring to run for office, vote for the unfamiliar. Keep putting the same faces that are in front of the cameras all of the time or speaking to specific groups of people for large sums of money and all you are going to get is the same thing. American people are the very definition of insanity, "doing the dame thing over and over again, the same way, and expecting a different result".

[abbe91]

Yes, vote Alvin Greene.

[wdh3007]

Rangel should go to prison for violating 13 counts of ethics charges!

[myopinionpal]

Vote all incumbents out no matter what party their in!!!!!

Now thats real change

[myopinionpal]

Mid term elections is almost here and I'm willing to bet that the same old crooks in both parties will get re-elected. All they have to do is jump on any hot button issue like they are really going to do something about it and please the voters and they get voted right back in. But the funny thing is they know they just dupped the voters again.And laughing all the way to the bank with a check from the real people they work for the lobbyist.