Charles Rangel

According to a report by Irene Cornell of WCBS radio in New York City:

Congressman Charlie Rangel basically embarrassed himself by showing up in court plead for the release of 17 year-old Afrika Owes, a one-time student at the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.

Rangel kept popping up, standing at the rail, trying to interrupt the judge. Finally, a court officer told him to sit down three times when he popped up again.

Judge Edward McLaughlin responded by saying, "I see someone standing who should not be standing, unless you have a bad back like I do." Rangel sat down.

One of the more bizarre elements of today's Washington Post profile of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), by Wil Haygood, is this:

Rangel has genuine vitriol for the National Legal and Policy Center, which filed complaints against him with the Federal Election Commission, the IRS and the House Ethics Committee. He claims that investigators for the group followed him to the Dominican Republic and broke into his office.

Rangel has made no secret of his contempt for the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), but this is the first time he has libeled us or accused us of committing a crime.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has formally opened a legal defense fund in an apparent acknowledgement of our accusation that he illegally used almost $400,000 in PAC funds for his legal defense. According to a statement Rangel made to Politics Daily:

The repeated filings of allegations, no matter how unsubstantiated, by the National Legal Policy Committee (sic), a politically-motivated right wing group dedicated to eviscerating civil rights and labor union protections, have led me to this action.

On November 29, we filed a Complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Rangel violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by using almost $400,000 in funds from his National Leadership PAC to pay legal bills related to the House Ethics Committee actions against him.

On the House floor tonight, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) again asserted that he did not personally gain from the acts of which he is accused, notwithstanding the fact that he failed to report, or pay taxes on, rental income received from his Dominican Republic beach house. Rangel seems to believe that if you repeatedly say something, it becomes true, no matter how absurd.