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<H1>Ethics panel charges Rangel with conduct discrediting the House</H1>
<DIV class=cnn_stryathrtmp>
<DIV class=cnnbyline>By <B>the CNN Wire Staff</B></DIV>
<DIV class=cnn_strytmstmp></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=cnn_strylftcntnt>
<DIV class=cnn_strylctcntr>
<DIV><B>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</B></DIV>
<UL class="cnn_bulletbin cnnstryhghlght">
<LI><B>NEW:</B> Rangel offers his first response to the charges made public
Thursday
<LI><B>NEW:</B> Rangel says he may have been overzealous but was serving his
country
<LI>The House ethics committee charges Rangel with 13 violations
<LI>Charges described alleged influence-peddling for donations to a college
center in his name</LI></UL></DIV></DIV>
<P><B>Washington (CNN)</B> -- The House ethics committee on Thursday accused
veteran Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of House rules involving alleged
financial wrongdoing and harming the credibility of Congress.</P>
<P>The charges accused the 20-term Democrat from New York of using his influence
to solicit donations for a college policy center in his name from corporate
heads and others with business before the powerful House Ways and Means
Committee that Rangel chaired until forced to give up the leadership position
earlier this year.</P>
<P>Other charges involve alleged income tax and financial disclosure violations,
as well as improper use of government mail service and letterhead.</P>
<P>"Credibility is what's at stake here; the very credibility of the House
itself before the American people," said Rep. Mike McCaul, the ranking
Republican on a subcommittee that will hold a trial-like hearing on the charges
against Rangel.</P>
<P>McCaul spoke at the subcommittee's first meeting, described as an
organizational session. Rangel was not required to attend and did not show up to
hear the first public disclosure of the formal charges against him.</P>
<P>Asked later about his response to the charges, Rangel sounded contrite in
saying he may have been "overzealous" in serving the public but took some
comfort that the allegations involved no "corruption" or "self-dealing."</P>
<P>"I can't make an excuse for serious violations, but I can have an explanation
of my intent," he said. "And to large degree that's what my life has been all
about--intent."</P>
<P>Rangel said it was "a very, very rough period for me and my family, but we
all, including my community, will get by this."</P>
<P>In the days leading up to the hearing, Rangel had said he welcomed the
completion of a two-year investigation by the ethics committee so that he could
finally respond to specific accusations against him.</P>
<P>According to documents released by the committee, Rangel first learned of the
charges being pursued by an investigating subcommittee on June 17. He filed a
motion to have the charges dismissed, which the investigating panel denied, the
documents showed.</P>
<P>In a document dated Wednesday, Rangel's lawyers challenged the scope of the
charges against him, saying Rangel "did not abuse his official position or
enrich himself financially."</P>
<P>"He did not target for solicitation foundations, corporations or individuals
with business before the Ways & Means Committee, nor did he offer or provide
preferential treatment or favors to potential contributors," the document said.
"He received no prohibited benefit, direct or indirect, from his work on behalf
of this program that violates the ethics rules."</P>
<P>However, the document said Rangel "recognizes that the public would have been
better served if he had consulted the Standards Committee staff in advance" of
soliciting funding for the college center.</P>
<P>Rangel said this week that his lawyers were in talks with committee lawyers
on a possible deal to settle the case without a hearing. When Thursday's hearing
was delayed for 55 minutes with no explanation, rumors of an imminent agreement
quickly spread.</P>
<P><A href="http://ireport.cnn.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=7233"
target=_blank>iReport: Sound off on this story</A></P>
<P>However, the panel gathered and held the hearing, and it remained unclear
whether a settlement avoiding the spectacle of a trial hearing was possible.</P>
<P>According to the charges, Rangel allegedly failed to report more than
$600,000 on financial disclosure reports and improperly used a rent-subsidized
apartment as a campaign office for over a decade and failed to pay taxes on a
home in the Dominican Republic.</P>
<P>Rangel "argues that errors on his personal taxes do not implicate discharge
of his official responsibilities," committee investigators concluded in response
to Rangel's request to have the charges dismissed. He "appears to be operating
under the erroneous belief that the only conduct subject to discipline is
conduct directly related to the discharge of his official responsibilities."</P>
<P>An investigative subcommittee report on Rangel's dealings, available on the
committee's website, detailed a lengthy series of meetings the congressman held
with business leaders to raise funds for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public
Policy at the City College of New York. His repeated attempts to woo potential
donors violated the House's solicitation and gift ban, the report said.</P>
<P>Among other things, the report stated that Rangel met with a lobbyist for
insurance giant AIG in April 2008 with the objective to "close" a $10 million
"gift for the Rangel Center."</P>
<P>At the meeting, "AIG raised concerns about a potential donation, including
the potential headline risk," the report stated. But Rangel pushed ahead, asking
"AIG, at least twice, what was necessary to get this done."</P>
<P>During the period of time that Rangel was seeking donations from AIG,
according to committee investigators, the company was lobbying the House on
several tax and trade issues -- matters over which Rangel exercised considerable
influence.</P>
<P>It also noted that, in March 2007, he used congressional letterhead to send
notes to business leaders such as Donald Trump, in which he requested meetings
to discuss the Rangel Center.</P>
<P>The congressman's "acceptance of favors and benefits from donors to the
Rangel Center ... might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the
performance of his governmental duties," the report concluded, adding that the
"accumulation of (Rangel's) actions reflected poorly on the institution of the
House and, thereby, brought discredit to the House."</P>
<P>In the July 28 response, Rangel's lawyers argued that some of the cited
infractions were unintended in his effort to help the college.</P>
<P>"If he mistakenly used the wrong letterhead or other modest resources in this
worthy cause, the error was made in good faith," the document said.</P>
<P>"It is undisputed that every single charitable contribution in this case went
to CCNY, a public educational institution, and not to the congressman," it said,
later adding that"the uncontroverted evidence is that Congressman Rangel never
suggested that any donor to the Rangel Center would receive favorable
consideration in legislative matters and never gave preferential treatment to
any contributor."</P>
<P>McCaul said the allegations against Rangel, if proven, would violate "the
most fundamental code of conduct" for House members.</P>
<P>Rep. Gene Green of Texas, a Democrat who led a two-year ethics subcommittee
investigation of Rangel, said it was a difficult job.</P>
<P>"The task is even more difficult when the subject has befriended and mentored
so many new members, and I'm one of them," Green said.</P>
<P>Another ethics committee member, Republican Rep. Jo Bonner of Alabama, said
"this is truly a sad day where no one, regardless of their partisan stripes,
should rejoice."</P>
<P>Rangel temporarily stepped down as Ways and Means Committee chairman earlier
this year following the announcement of an ethics investigation of several
allegations, including failure to pay taxes on the Dominican Republic
residence.</P>
<P>The House ethics committee previously admonished Rangel for violating rules
on receiving gifts. Specifically, the committee found that Rangel violated House
gift rules by accepting reimbursement payments for travel to conferences in the
Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.</P>
<P>Rangel, whose autobiography that discusses his Korean War experience is
titled "And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since," told reporters earlier Thursday that
"I have to reassess that (statement)" in light of the pending hearing.</P>
<P>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday -- in response to a question about
Rangel -- that there must be "accountability" and "transparency" in cases of
ethical transgressions.</P>
<P>"Holding a high ethical standard is a serious responsibility ... and a top
priority" for the House Democratic leadership, she said. In terms of political
fallout from cases such as Rangel's, "the chips will fall where they may," she
said.</P>
<P class=cnninline>Congressional Democrats have reportedly expressed concern
that an extended public airing of the charges against Rangel could damage the
party's prospects in the November midterm elections.</P>
<P class=cnn_strycbftrtxt><B>CNN's Deirdre Walsh, Brianna Keilar, Evan Glass,
Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.</B></P></DIV><FONT
size=2>
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