Rangel Hires Forensic Accountant

Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel has hired a forensic accountant to review his finances over the last twenty years and issue a report to the House Ethics Committee, a source close to Rangel confirmed Monday.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rangel has come under fire in recent weeks for multiple allegations that he has failed to report $75,000 in income from a beach house in the Dominican Republic.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the New York Democrat has not yet hired someone for the task.

Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, told the AP that the move shows Rangel "has nothing to hide and does not believe he has done anything intentionally wrong."

The accountant's report will not be reviewed by Rangel or his advisers before it is given to the committee "as quickly as possible," Davis said.

According the AP story, Rangel has promised that once the report is complete, he will publicly release his tax returns for the past 20 years.

Several prominent House Republicans have called for Rangel to step down from his committee post while the investigation is ongoing, a move which Rangel has resisted.