Rangel Asks House for Mercy
The New York Times reports:
Hoping to avoid the lasting stain of Congressional censure and the indignity of the public scolding that accompanies it, Representative Charles B. Rangel has embarked on a last-ditch campaign to convince colleagues that he deserves the far less serious punishment of a reprimand for his ethics violations, according to two people close to Mr. Rangel.
Mr. Rangel, 80, who may face censure in front of the full House as early as this week, is arguing that the punishment — a move short of expulsion — is reserved for violations more grave than those he committed. To make that case, his staff has prepared a 10-point chart to distribute to other members of Congress, along with a history of punishments meted out before.
Point 4 on the chart notes that Mr. Rangel, a Democrat who has represented Harlem for four decades, “did not take bribes,” and Point 8 says his violations did not involve personal financial gain. Point 5 says his violations “did not involve sexual misconduct.”
The chart also cites cases in which representatives were reprimanded for violations that, it says, were more serious than those committed by Mr. Rangel.
Mr. Rangel has also asked Representative Zoe Lofgren, the chairwoman of the House ethics committee, which recommended censure, for time to make his case on the floor of the House, according to the people close to Mr. Rangel, who said they would discuss Mr. Rangel’s efforts only if granted anonymity, because the matter was still being decided.
It was not immediately clear how widely Mr. Rangel had appealed to colleagues, or whether his efforts had any real chance of success. Representative Peter T. King, a Republican member of the New York delegation who has spoken highly of Mr. Rangel in the past, released a tepid statement through a spokesman when asked about the prospects of downgrading Mr. Rangel’s punishment.
“I am studying the record and have made no decision yet,” Mr. King said.
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