Charles Rangel

Rangel Fires Back at Obama; Attacks President’s Youth

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Tue, 08/24/2010 - 12:01

Rangel Obama sign Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has again responded to President Obama’s recommendation that he “should end his career with dignity.” Michael Barbaro reported yesterday in the New York Times:

At a tense and sometimes fiery candidates’ forum Monday night, Mr. Rangel shot back that it was not his dignity the president should be worried about.

“Frankly, he has not been around long enough to determine what my dignity is,” Mr. Rangel said of the 49-year-old Mr. Obama. “For the next two years, I will be more likely to protect his dignity.”

NY City Cuts Off Funding For Rangel-Backed Group

Submitted by Ken Boehm on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 07:34

Isabel Vincent and Ginger Adams Otis report in today’s New York Post that New York City has cut off funding for Alianza Dominicana, a nonprofit group for which Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) secured a $2.6 million federal earmark in June. In addition, the Post reports that Alianza Dominicana, which is Spanish for Dominican Alliance, is now the subject of a probe by the Department of Investigation (DOI), the City’s version of the FBI.

Last week, NLPC filed a Complaint with the House Ethics Committee against Rangel detailing his involvement with Alianza and its CEO Moises Perez. Alianza is an ACORN-like community action group for Dominicans that has become politically powerful after gorging on taxpayer funds for 25 years. As reported in the New York Post last Sunday, the group is facing a host of financial problems, including a failure to pay state and federal taxes. Click here to download a 10-page pdf of the Complaint.

Charles Rangel Attacks NLPC on House Floor

Submitted by Ken Boehm on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 18:13

Even though he could not get our name right, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) concluded his remarks on the House floor on Tuesday with this:

NLPC Files New Rangel Ethics Complaint

Submitted by Ken Boehm on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 11:37

Charles Rangel NLPC yesterday filed a formal Complaint with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the House Ethics Committee. Click here to download a 10-page pdf of the Complaint.

The Complaint focuses on Rep. Rangel's efforts to direct millions of dollars in taxpayers' money to a politically well-connected but financially unstable nonprofit called Alianza Dominicana. Rangel's relationship with the controversial group based in New York City was the subject of a front page story in the Sunday August 8, 2010 New York Post.

Another One Bites The Dust: Rep. Kilpatrick Loses Democratic Primary

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 09:42

Kilpatrick photo Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) was defeated in a Democratic primary yesterday. Kilpatrick was one of six members of Congress investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Ethics Committee for accepting a corporate-sponsored Caribbean junket in November 2008. I attended the event in St. Maarten before organizers had me detained by the Police Korps of St. Maarten. The investigations were launched on the basis of my photographs, audio recordings and other evidence of sponsorship by companies like Citigroup.

House Ethics Committee Confirms NLPC’s Rangel Allegations

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 17:19

The House Ethics Committee threw the book at Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) today, alleging violations of House rules on 13 counts. Click here to download a pdf of the 40-page Statement of Alleged Violations.

One of the more serious violations was Rangel’s failure to disclose or pay taxes on rental income from a vacation home at the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic. Following a review of Rangel’s financial disclosures in August of 2008, NLPC dispatched an investigator to the Dominican Republic who established that Rangel’s beachfront “villa” was continuously rented out.

Two House Ethics Committee Members Tainted by Rangel Cash

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 11:03

Ben Chandler The eight members of the House Ethics Committee sit in judgment on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), but it is hard to see how at least two of them can be impartial when they have received campaign funds from Rangel’s National Leadership PAC.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY), in photo, received two contributions of $5,000 each during the 2004 election cycle, on 12/15/03 and 1/20/04. Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) received contributions of $1,000 and $2,000 during the 2004 cycle, on 6/29/04 and 7/13/04 respectively.

Testy Rangel Disparages MSNBC After 'Dumb' Ethics Questions

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 18:26

After being charged with violations of House Rules by the House Ethics Committee today, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) got downright testy with MSNBC reporter Luke Russert when asked if he was going to keep his job. Rangel asked him who he was with and then disparaged the network by saying "it just shows what happened to a channel that did have some respect."

House Ethics Committee Charges Charles Rangel

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 17:10

Rangel photo The House Ethics Committee announced today that its subcommittee investigating allegations against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has “transmitted a Statement of Alleged Violation” to the Committee Chair and Ranking Republican, and formed an “adjudicatory subcommittee” to consider them. In other words, they have alleged that Rangel violated House rules, and now another subcommittee will try Rangel and determine guilt and the penalty, if any.

NLPC is the source of the most damaging allegations against Rangel, particularly his failure to disclose or pay taxes on rental income from his beach house in the Dominican Republic. Rangel has admitted that he did not report or disclose $75,000 but we have alleged in Complaints to the IRS and U.S. Attorney for D.C. that the total is likely much higher. NLPC is also the source of the information on which the Committee admonished Rangel earlier this year for accepting corporate-funded Caribbean junkets. Following his admonishment, Rangel resigned from his Chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Is Rangel Detached From Reality?

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Tue, 05/18/2010 - 18:28

Rangel photo Steven T. Dennis of CQ-Roll Call interviewed former House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) last week and reports:

The veteran New York Democrat still wants his Ways and Means chairmanship back, but he doesn't want reporters to write that he's planning to fight for it. He wants and needs the ethics committee to clear his name, but he feels it already sandbagged him with an unjustified admonishment that appears nowhere in House rules and gave him no chance to challenge the finding.

Rangel “temporarily” stepped down from his Chairmanship on March 3, the same way that Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) “temporarily” resigned as ranking member on the Ethics Committee in 2006. Mollohan did not come back and neither will Rangel.