WASHINGTON — The House ethics committee’s investigative panel is alleging that former Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has violated ethics rules.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the chairman and ranking Republican member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said they have received a statement of Rangel’s “alleged violation” of ethics rules from the investigative panel. The lawmakers also said that the committee’s adjudicatory panel will hold a public organizational meeting next Thursday as it moves to begin to consider the allegation.
The committee has not provided any details about the alleged violation.
But Rangel, a strong proponent of Build America Bonds and other muni bond programs, has been under investigation for a range of ethics allegations related to taxes and conflicts of interest.
The 80 year-old stepped down from his post leading the powerful tax-writing committee in March after the ethics committee admonished him for taking corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008 for conferences, in violation of congressional gift rules.
In a statement, Rangel said: “I was notified today, two years after I requested an investigation, that the ethics committee will refer the allegations reviewed by an investigations subcommittee to a subcommittee that will review the facts,” he said. “I am pleased that, at long last, sunshine will pierce the cloud of serious allegations that have been raised against me in the media.”
Rangel has been dogged for months by a number of issues, including his failure to report on federal tax returns rental income earned on a villa in the Dominican Republic and whether he received below-market rental rates on four apartments in New York City.
“They’re taking the allegations to another level,” said Kenneth Gross, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP here who specializes in congressional ethics. “The range of penalties ultimately can be anything from dismissal [of the charges] to reprimand to censure to expulsion.”
“This is very unusual. These types of investigations at this level are few and far between,” he added.
The last time the House conducted such a review of a member was eight years ago, which ultimately led to the expulsion of former Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio. Traficant was investigated by Congress after being federally indicted on corruption charges that he used campaign funds for personal use. He ultimately was convicted of 10 felony counts, including bribery and tax evasion.
