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~ Wednesday, March 3 ~
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Under Fire, Rangel Steps Aside as Leader of Committee (NYT) About time. In July 2008, the New York Times reported that Rangel rented four rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem luxury building and used one of them as his campaign office. This arrangement appeared to violate New York State and City laws that require a rent-stabilized apartment to be used as one’s primary residence. After the story broke, Rangel promptly moved the office from his apartment and filed an ethics complaint against himself. But a few days later Rangel was back in the news. This time, the Washington Post reported that Rangel had used congressional stationery to solicit funds for his personal foundation from companies with business before his committee. In response, Rangel filed another ethics complaint  against himself. Rangel’s foundation, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service, garnered the nickname “Monument to Me” last year after he secured a $1.9 million earmark for it. Then on Aug. 31, the New York Post broke the news that Rangel had failed to disclose income from renting his Caribbean villa. (The Post’s photo of a dozing Rangel is an added bonus.) According to the Times’ follow-up, Rangel failed to report the $75,000 in income not only on his congressional disclosure forms, but also on his state and federal income tax filings. What’s more, Rangel hadn’t paid interest on the villa’s mortgage for 10 years. That loan was given to him by a company in which a donor to Rangel was a principal investor. Rangel pleaded ignorance on the loan terms and, once again, called for an ethics investigation. — ProPublica

Under Fire, Rangel Steps Aside as Leader of Committee (NYT)

About time.

In July 2008, the New York Times reported that Rangel rented four rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem luxury building and used one of them as his campaign office. This arrangement appeared to violate New York State and City laws that require a rent-stabilized apartment to be used as one’s primary residence. After the story broke, Rangel promptly moved the office from his apartment and filed an ethics complaint against himself.

But a few days later Rangel was back in the news. This time, the Washington Post reported that Rangel had used congressional stationery to solicit funds for his personal foundation from companies with business before his committee. In response, Rangel filed another ethics complaint  against himself. Rangel’s foundation, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service, garnered the nickname “Monument to Me” last year after he secured a $1.9 million earmark for it.

Then on Aug. 31, the New York Post broke the news that Rangel had failed to disclose income from renting his Caribbean villa. (The Post’s photo of a dozing Rangel is an added bonus.) According to the Times’ follow-up, Rangel failed to report the $75,000 in income not only on his congressional disclosure forms, but also on his state and federal income tax filings. What’s more, Rangel hadn’t paid interest on the villa’s mortgage for 10 years. That loan was given to him by a company in which a donor to Rangel was a principal investor. Rangel pleaded ignorance on the loan terms and, once again, called for an ethics investigation. — ProPublica