House Expands Probe into Rangel
A day after surviving a GOP-sponsored vote to take away his House Ways & Means gavel, Charlie Rangel was again in the news. The House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to expand their investigation to Rangel's personal disclosure forms. Earlier this year, Rangel quietly amended these forms, reporting an additional $600,000 in income going back to 2001. The committee had been unaware of these changes until they were reported in the press in August. At Rangel's request, the committee had already been looking into his sub-leasing of rent-stabilized apartments near his home in Harlem, his failure to report income from a vacation rental house in the Dominican Republican and his fundraising for the Charlie B. Rangel Center at New York's City College.
The committee's work has already lasted more than a year and, they revealed today, they've issued more than 150 subpoenas relating to the case. They've also “interviewed approximately 34 witnesses resulting in over 2,100 pages of transcripts; reviewed and analyzed over 12,000 pages of documents; and held over 30 investigative subcommittee meetings,” Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jo Bonner, the committees top Democrat and Republican, respectively, said in a joint statement.
The New York congressman has reportedly spent more than $1 million in legal fees defending himself. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she's unwilling to take away Rangel's chairmanship until the committee reaches a conclusion. No criminal charges have been filed. Still, cracks in the until-now-unified Democratic support are starting to show: two Mississippi congressmen – Gene Taylor and Travis Childers -- yesterday became the first Democrats to vote to strip Rangel of his chairmanship (the GOP has brought up this vote every couple of months for the last year).
Predictably, Republicans latched on to today's announcement. “Given the expanded investigation announced today, it is past time for Speaker Pelosi to insist that Chairman Rangel step aside until the Ethics Committee completes its work,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a statement. ‘The American people won't stand for having a chairman of the House's tax-writing committee who is under investigation for not paying his taxes. What more has to happen before Speaker Pelosi does the right thing?”
A Rangel spokesman downplayed the committee's announcement as “nothing new.” “ Today's action by the committee is a technicality, as everything they referenced in today's announcement has already been subject to ongoing review by the Ethics Committee and its staff,” the spokesman said. “It is clear that the committee is being very thorough and deliberative in its process, just as the Chairman expected. While the Committee continues its review, Chairman Rangel will continue working harder than ever to reform America's health care system and help our economy recover.”
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The House Ethics Committe is pretty much a joke. When they do something about Rangel wake me from my drunk stupor.
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It's a sad day when a man acused of being a tax cheat is STILL in charge of writing tax legislation. Either he's a conninvingly, dishonest person, or the tax laws are too complex for him to understand. Either way, he is NOT the person to be writing tax law.
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Well I guess its really par for the course. We have a treasury secretary right now who couldn't figure out that he owed taxes either. But he and Rangel are part of the ruling elite so its apparently no big deal. The big bad ethics committe will handle this.
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http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/geithner_didnt_pay_taxes/ -
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Both knew exactly what they were doing. They chose to ignore the laws. Not quite the same as misintepreting the laws.
They assumed they were above those laws. So much fo rthe most ethical Congress and administration.
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I think geithner got a check each month from the IMF that had printed on it "THIS IS TO PAY YOUR TAXES."
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And who in the world would figure you have to pay payroll taxes? I mean aren't the serf's free?
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OT, but has anyone else been getting this message when they copy and paste from one of the posts here?
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Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/10/08/house-expands-probe-into-rangel/#comments#ixzz0TOlLZgST
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I'm using Safari, and this shows up every time recently.
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I can delete it, but it still irritates me that TIME is trying to sneak advertising into my posts. -
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Cliff. I been getting that crap to. The High Sheriffs here apparently are literally high.
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What a joke, GOP congressmen can do what they want and NOTHING...a Democrat gets investigated....
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The link sneak is beyond irritating.
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Nobel Peace Prize
I mean really, WTF?
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No seriously, WTF!?
Last year's winner, Fin Martti Ahtisaari, was recognized "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."
I mean is this pay-it-forward or an award for actually accomplishing something, errr, anything. In recognition for your purty words and vague f'ing promises on virtually every fo-po hotspot around the globe, we'd like to preemptively award this highest achievement in order to inspire you to do, like, something really good.
Orwell, man, Orwell, the world is so utterly f'ed.
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I think the commitee wants to influence future events as much as celebrate past ones. Sort of a 'thumb on the scale' approach.
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IOW, Obama will now feel honor bound to try a little harder.
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The Nobel Committee is either too "political" or blind to the implications of this particular award. As you say, the President to make a great effort to get things done here and abroad.
On Rangel: we need one standard for pols and govt appointees and the Wall Streeters. This should not be a Conservative or Democratic values issue. Rangel should be subjected to a searching scrutiny. Our job to to make sure it happens and to reserve "judgement" until then. The tendency to hound people from office is a game played by both sides. If Rangel is found guilty then punishment should follow. The Ethics Committee need to understand the word "ethics". Not sure they have a sterling record given their past "investigations".
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What I want to know is WHY Rangel amending his 2001 taxes in 2009 was not construed as misrepresentation and his credibility shot.
The Democrats are waiting once again until the massive gorilla leaps out of Rangel's closet then the reactive political dance starts-as usual.
I hope having him as chairman outweighs any political liability he might create if found culpable.
LM
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Guys, the real issue is the lame IRS. This stuff has been in plain sight for years. Why doesn't the IRS audit these crooks?
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That's the real issue. And why isn't Time Magazine asking very hard questions to the IRS and Treasury about the apparent kid glove treatment of Congressmen.
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A couple of days ago Congressman Keith Ellison reported a "gift", namely expense reimbursement for a trip to Mecca. That may well be a "gift" for ethics purposes, but not likely a "gift" under the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, it would be taxable income. Any bets on whether Keith paid taxes on that income? Where is the MSM on that issue? -
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After a decade of corporate corruption, it would be nice to see government taking action against someone -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
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[...] House Expands Probe into Rangel - Swampland See all 109 blogs. October 9th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized [...]
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