UPDATE: Rep. Rangel walked out of the hearing, claiming that he was deprived of legal representation when the committee denied his request to postpone the trial. The trial continued without his presence. Check back here for more updates.
Rep. Charles Rangel of New York passed his first test, when Harlem voters ignored the charges of corruption swirling around him and in November re-elected him to another term in Congress.
Now Rangel is facing another test as his House ethics trial kicks off today. He faces charges that he ignored House rules on disclosing his assets and raising money for a public building built in his honor and failing to declare rental income to the IRS.
All of these charges are against a man who was House Ways and Means Chairman and was responsible for writing the nation's tax laws. Rangel gave up his chairmanship last year in light of the allegations of 13 counts of violating House rules.
A group of eight House members, four Democrats and four Republicans, will judge whether there is clear evidence that House rules were broken. If so, the Ethics Committee will meet to decide the punishment. During a speech on the House floor, before his re-election, Rangel admitted he made mistakes but denied intentionally breaking House rules.
The latest ethics charge Rangel faces is that he may have improperly used political action committee money to help pay for his defense. If true, the Ethics Committee should throw the book at Charlie with a huge fine and public censure.
Rangel has been in Congress since 1970 and should know the rules as well as anyone. With all the mess floating around him, if he broke another rule to pay for his defense, he is simply showing he doesn't care about following rules anymore.
But when he won his election in November, Rangel's constituents made their decision that right or wrong, rule-breaker or not, they wanted Charlie Rangel in Congress representing them.
04-Nov-10 - Aimee Michael caused a massive car accident in Atlanta, a chain reaction that caused the deaths of five people, including a newborn baby, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. She now faces 36 years in prison.
04-Nov-10 - Aimee Michael caused a massive car accident in Atlanta, a chain reaction that caused the deaths of five people, including a newborn baby, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. She now faces 36 years in prison.
27-Oct-10 - Christopher White, Abdul Rasuul, and Leroy Johnson allege that they were told they had to buy food when they asked to use the restroom at a Third Avenue McDonald's.
25-Oct-10 - While T.I. reported to jail on November 1, he doesn't have to face additional charges and possible jail time from the arrest in California.
