A4


Rangel Investigation by Paul Kane The subcommittee that investi-


gated Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D- N.Y.) has recommended that the embattled lawmaker face only a “reprimand,” a mild form of pun- ishment similar to that given to Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) when he was rebuked in 1997. Rep. Gene Green (D-Tex.) told


reporters Friday that his four- member investigative subcom- mittee is not seeking the high- level punishments of censure or expulsion, opting for a mid-level sanction that requires the approv-


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al of the full House but carries no other penalty. “The recommendation we had was a reprimand,” Green said a day after the subcommittee re- leased the 40-page outline of charges.


Green would not discuss


whether the subcommittee was unanimous in its recommenda- tion, which required only a major- ity vote. Also Friday, President Obama made his first comments about the case since the charges were announced. “I think Charlie Ran- gel served a very long time and served his constituents very well,”


Obama said in an interview aired by “CBS Evening News.” “But these allegations are very trou- bling. . . . He’s somebody who’s at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I’m sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens.” Rangel’s legal team held out hope that the lawmaker could reach a settlement with the adju- dicatory subcommittee hearing his case. Attorney Leslie Kiernan said a reprimand “was one of a number of issues addressed in set- tlement discussions.”


According to Republican


Rangel’s lawyers cite donations that other lawmakers had sought


rangel from A1


picion that the donor is getting some legislative favor, even when there is no evidence of a quid pro quo.


“My own view is that people in public office should not anywhere be in these transactions,” said Frances R. Hill, a specialist in campaign finance law and profes- sor at the University of Miami who has followed the practice for more than a decade. “Their only relationship with charities should be as contributors out of their own personal funds. When you start being a middleman in these transactions, then inevitably these questions will be raised, and will have to be answered.” But independent campaign fi- nance lawyers say Rangel’s case il- lustrates how slow federal law- makers have been in understand- ing the risks of creating what one expert called “Monuments to Me”: charities designed at least in part to provide them a post-- retirement office where they may contemplate their life amid their collected papers. Rangel’s lawyers have empha- sized that the House ethics com- mittee presented no evidence that his connection to the foundation set up by City College of New York brought any personal enrichment or provided any benefits to do- nors.


But in making the charges, the


committee took an unusually bold position: It said that even without proof of such a corrupt trans- action, Rangel had brought dis- credit to the House because “the entities solicited were seeking of- ficial action from the House and/ or had interests that might be substantially affected” by actions that Rangel took or did not take. Rangel’s effort to point out the


practices of other members did not go over well with his targets or with ethics watchdogs. McCon- nell spokesman Donald Stewart said Friday that “Mr. Rangel’s ef- forts to draw comparisons are ab- surd and without any similarity whatsoever.” Melanie Sloan, executive direc- tor of the nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said pointing fingers at others is “nev- er really a good excuse, [as] we learned back in kindergarten.” Rangel helped create the Ran-


gel Center for Public Service in 2004 to archive his papers and provide what potential donors were told would be a “well-fur- nished office for Congressman Rangel.” He secured federal ear- marks totaling $1.6 million for the center. (His attorneys make clear that this, too, is accepted congres- sional practice.) The trouble began when his of-


fice sent out dozens of fundrais- ing letters on his congressional stationery to charitable founda-


tions controlled by large corpora- tions and to large nonprofit groups such as the Ford Founda- tion and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. The City College of New York hoped to raise $30 mil- lion for the project. The ethics committee accused


Rangel of using staff time and of misusing the congressional frank- ing privilege. His lawyers argued that most of the staff time in- volved an unpaid intern and that the frank usage did not violate ex- isting rules. Rangel was then senior Demo-


crat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and he ac- knowledged reviewing the names of those who got the letters, a group that included AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Gold- man Sachs, AIG, Merrill Lynch & Co., Wachovia and a few large nonprofit foundations. Rangel’s


lawyers said he


thought that none “were seeking official action or were likely to be substantially affected by the per- formance of his official duties.” But the ethics committee, in its


40-page statement of “Alleged Vi- olations,” said all had interests in tax matters overseen by the panel. On three occasions, it noted, he discussed donations to his center with registered lobbyists: Melvin Norris, a former aide lobbying for Verizon Communications; George Nichols, a lobbyist for New York Life Insurance; and Edward Cloo-


EventatAudiofTysons. TheHeatIsOnAsWeCrankUp TheExcitement.


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nan, a lobbyist for AIG. Some of Rangel’s letters had so- licited donations of $30 million, or $6 million a year for five years. Nabors Industries and its top ex- ecutive, Eugene Isenberg, pledged a total of $1 million, several months before Isenberg and a lob- byist met with Rangel to discuss a tax provision. The Ford Founda- tion gave $1 million; the Verizon Foundation gave $500,000. McConnell’s spokesman did


not reply to questions about how much the senator had raised for the McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville and how he did it. But he said that the senator never used official stationery and that no one had alleged that McCon- nell did favors for donors. The university waged an eight- year battle to keep secret the names of 47,000 donors to a foun- dation that includes the McCon-


counts, 10 House Democrats have called on Rangel to resign, nine of whom were elected for the first time in 2006 or 2008 and face dif- ficult races as they seek reelection in November. “It’s been a long haul,” said Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio). “I think he should resign, out of concern for the institution and the particular- ity of the allegations.” Some Democrats who have called for Rangel’s resignation left wiggle room for him to try to prove the allegations are false. The charges include allegations


that Rangel violated House rules by soliciting donations from peo-


ple with business before his com- mittee to fund a center named in his honor at City College of New York, not paying taxes on a Carib- bean home, improperly using a rent-stabilized apartment in New York as a campaign office, and not properly disclosing more than $600,000 in income and assets. Rangel’s attorneys issued a 32-


page rebuttal Thursday. Green and Rep. Jo Bonner


(Ala.), the top Republican on the investigative subcommittee, are serving as the prosecution in the Rangel trial. They are presenting their evidence to an adjudicatory subcommittee made up of four


SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2010 Investigative panel recommends mild punishment for Rangel


Democrats and four Republicans who serve as the judge and jury. If the panel finds Rangel guilty, it could determine a punishment. But the recommendation of Green and Bonner would weigh heavily on that decision. In January 1997, the House rep- rimanded Gingrich because of the financing related to a college course the then-speaker taught in the 1990s. It also fined Gingrich $300,000 for misleading investi- gators. Green said Friday that no additional sanction, beyond a rep- rimand, was recommended against Rangel. kanep@washpost.com


ALEX BRANDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) waves as he gets into an elevator to vote on Capitol Hill.


nell Center, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, but lost in court and was forced to dis- close all but 62. The McConnell Center’s donors included Toyota, Ford Motor, Ash- land, UPS, RJR Nabisco, Philip Morris, the Tobacco Institute, BellSouth, AT&T and Humana. Donations dropped in the years after the names were published, the Courier-Journal reported. smithj@washpost.com


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