Rep. Rangel's Benz Towed From Capitol Lot

Embattled N.Y. Democrat Found Using Government Lot To Store Vintage 1972 Auto

(CBS/AP)  A vintage car that Rep. Charles Rangel has stored in a congressional parking lot in violation of rules has been towed away.

The New York Post reported Friday that the 1972 silver Mercedes-Benz, whose registration expired four years ago and which was being kept in a House of Representatives indoor lot without plates, was towed.

House rules require cars to display proper identification including plates and forbid use of the garage for storage.

Rangel has so far declined to answer questions about the car. The House Web site says anyone with a reserved indoor space incurs taxable income currently calculated at $100 per month.

An employee of the Falls Church, Va., towing company said the car was taken to a dealership for service.

The towing came as leaders of the House ethics committee said they plan to begin investigating some of the ethical issues surrounding Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel, a Democrat, has asked the committee to investigate him for not reporting rental income on a Dominican Republic vacation house; for his use of four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem; and for his use of congressional stationery to drum up private funding for a college center named after him.

On Thursday the House voted on a measure offered by Republican Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, calling for Rangel to lose his committee post. The move failed.

An earlier House vote seeking to censure Rangel also failed by a wide margin.