Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) asked for more time today to prepare for his ethics subcommittee hearing. Rangel told the panel that he has not had enough time to hire new legal counsel to address the numerous allegations of ethics violations.
Rangel’s last legal team, Zuckerman Spaeder, reportedly gave him the heave-ho in September and Rangel has not yet secured new counsel. Rangel told members of the subcommittee that he hasn’t been able to raise enough money to hire a new team, having spent nearly $2 million in legal fees already. He said, about finding new lawyers:
Fifty years of public service is on the line. And I truly believe that I am not being treated fairly. I deserve a lawyer.
That, I’ll grant him. But it’s also Rangel’s responsibility to find an attorney. People do it all of the time. People who don’t have years and years to see this coming…
Rangel has been charged with thirteen ethics violations, including failure to pay income taxes on a rental property in the Dominican Republic. Despite the allegations, Rangel has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence. So far, all he has gotten from Congress was a smack on the wrist. Until now.
Questions about Rangel’s conduct have been floated about DC for years. In March, even Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) couldn’t save Rangel from himself, when new charges relating to violating gift rules hit Congress. Rangel eventually “voluntarily” stepped down from his position as the Chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee (the committee that writes our tax policy) when it was apparent that he would otherwise be forced out.
Despite numerous allegations against him, the formal investigation into Rangel’s conduct didn’t officially began today with the subcommittee hearing. After the hearing, those on the subcommittee will vote and then send their findings to the full ethics committee (the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) which will then file a report with the House.
There’s only one teensy problem with that plan. After Rangel requested more time to prepare for the hearing, the subcommittee turned him down. So he did what any other grown-up would do when he didn’t get his way: he walked out. Yep, out of the hearing. If he thought that might end things, he was wrong: the hearing continued without him.
