Black members of Congress are asking the public - and fellow Democrats - to hear all of the facts in the Charlie Rangel ethics investigation before passing judgment or pushing him to admit wrongdoing.
The warning came from the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Barbara Lee, D-Calif, who said the 40-year Democrat deserves a hearing of the facts:
"Any rush to judgment to short-circuit the ongoing review of Congressman Rangel by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct will do a disservice to the well-established processes of the House of Representatives. Attempts by Republicans and Democrats to presume guilt before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct completes its review of the facts, which are only known to them and Congressman Rangel, violates the core American principle of the presumption of innocence."
The move probably provides Rangel some cover from Democrats who wanted him to admit to some wrongdoing and settle his case ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, where Democrats are expected to face a tough battle in Congress. Democrats have returned money from Rangel, who, after four decades, had obtained the chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee before being pressured in to stepping down in March.
According to the AP, among the charges Rangel is expected to face are:
-Rangel's use of official stationery to raise money for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York.
-His use of four rent-subsidized apartment units in New York City.
-Rangel's failure to report income as required on his annual financial disclosure forms. The committee had investigated his failure to report income from the lawmaker's rental unit at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic. Rangel also belatedly disclosed hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment assets.
-His failure to pay taxes on all his income from the resort unit.
Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., said that the recent Shirley Sherrod incident, where the USDA employee was fired after a heavily edited video uploaded by a conservative blogger showed her saying she discriminated against a white farmer, but later proved to be misleading, should serve as a warning against a rush to judgment.
"Haven't we learned anything this week about jumping to conclusions? The railroading of Shirley Sherrod at USDA should be a lesson learned about hasty judgment and action based on inadequate, even false, information," Fattah said. "That lesson must be applied to current case of Congressman Charlie Rangel."
Rangel is facing a challenge in the primary this September, but many Harlem residents say they still stand behind him.
"I think it was a minor mistake," lifelong Harlem resident Clarence Rutledge, 43, told DNAinfo.com. "They just want to get rid of him," Rutledge said. "That's all it's about."
23-July-10 - A child pyromaniac is suspected of murdering his mother and siblings, setting fire to his home, and then slitting his own throat with a razor.
23-July-10 - A child pyromaniac is suspected of murdering his mother and siblings, setting fire to his home, and then slitting his own throat with a razor.
22-July-10 - Ieshuh Griffin is a legislative candidate from Wisconsin who seems willing to do whatever it takes to get elected. In the five words that candidates are allowed to put on the ballot to describe themselves, Griffin put the phrase, "Not the white man's b*tch."
21-July-10 - DeFarra Gaymon, a father of four and the CEO of Credit Union of Atlanta, was shot to death in a Newark, N.J. park known for male prostitution.
20-July-10 - Snoop Dogg and his wife revealed to People Magazine that the discovery that their then-6-year-old daughter, Cori, had lupus helped bring their family closer.
20-July-10 - Gangsta-rapper-turned-actor Ice-T was reportedly pulled over by New York City police officers early on Tuesday for driving without a seat belt.
14-July-10 - An Iowa Tea Party group recently caused an uproar by creating a billboard that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
14-July-10 - Cad-about-town Tiki Barber has been hit with a $1-million lawsuit by a fitness company that has rendered him "worthless overnight" as its spokesperson, because he cheated on his pregnant wife.
14-July-10 - Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly (pictured) and New York Post columnist Kirsten Powers went at it recently regarding charges from a former Justice Department lawyer who claims that civil rights cases in which whites are the victims are ignored.
13-July-10 - A criminal investigation should be opened for two officers who Tasered and pepper-sprayed a 57-year-old Georgia woman who called police to report a prowler.
13-July-10 - Aimee L. Sword, 36, pled guilty to having sex with the biological son she gave up for adoption, whom she later tracked down on the Internet via Facebook.
