The Charles Rangel Roundup

The press is finally sinking its teeth into the growing mess that is Rep. Charles Rangel. The Harlem Democrat, whose chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee was never in doubt despite his growing tax problems, continues to face a growing list of questionable activities.

It would have been nice if much of this was done before the election - and many of these problems go back more than a decade. Yet, only now has it come out that Rangel managed to obtain four rent stabilized apartments using one as an office in violation of state law, failed to report income from sale of property, failed to report income on rental properties in New York and Punta Cana, and failed to report imputed income from using a parking spot in a House parking lot as long term storage in violation of Congressional rules.

In other words, I'd go a bit further than the US News and World Reports when it says that Rangel looks like a tax cheat. He is a tax cheat. He shows a pattern of tax abuse and evasion that has gone on for years on end.

Trying to figure out Rangel's tax and legal mess is an expensive task. Rangel first went to Bill Clinton's fixer, Lanny Davis. That was a six-figure sum ($121,000, and the final bill isn't in). He is using his campaign funds to pay Davis, and at least one watchdog group claims that there's nothing wrong with this:

Davis' firm received the substantial payout from Rangel's reelection campaign, federal records show. Those fees were for work by the Orrick legal team in July and August, sources close to Rangel and Davis said.

That's when the powerful House Ways and Means Committee chairman began answering charges that he had four rent-stabilized apartments in New York City and raised funds for a City College program on his House stationary - which sparked a GOP censure vote.

Rangel was caught off guard by Davis' first bill and "he had to transition," said a source who knows the lawmaker.

But the Manhattan Democrat hasn't received Davis' final bill for work in the fall, when was helping Rangel arrange an additional probe into his unreported income on a Dominican Republic rental villa, sources said.

The dean of the New York congressional delegation did not announce the switch.

Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics, said it's legal for Rangel to pay ethics lawyers from his campaign war chest.

Kiernan has represented other clients under an ethics cloud, such as President-Elect Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe, one of several campaign aides to ex-Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) probed in 2001.

He's hired a new attorney to handle his ethics investigation, and they're going to be kept busy at the rate that Rangel issues keep being uncovered.

Of course, another watchdog group has slammed Congress and the Democrats for continuing to enable Rangel and allowing him to keep his chairmanship despite clear evidence of wrongdoing. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership has shown anything but when dealing with this mess, by ignoring the clear wrongdoing and deference where none is deserved.

Rangel is in charge of the committee that writes tax law for the nation. Yet, he's managed to avoid paying his taxes on repeated occasions.

For his part, Rangel is rebuking the New York Times report from yesterday.

Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, denied the allegations spelled out in the article, saying in a statement, "At no time -- never -- did I entertain, promote or secure a tax break or any special favor for anyone as an inducement or reward for a contribution to the City College of New York."

I'd rather see Rangel pay up his tax bill, but that simply isn't possible since no one can quite figure out just how much he owes because not even a forensic accountant can quite get to the bottom of the matter.

As for the City College mess, it's the appearance of impropriety that raises eyebrows and that got the New York Times' attention. Still, that too was an issue arising from 2002 through 2007, which raises questions as to why no one bothered to look closely at what Rangel was doing all those years.

At least some folks are starting to call for his ouster from the Democratic leadership.

As yet another potential tax-related ethical lapse involving Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) surfaces, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network is calling for the veteran lawmaker to be removed as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee – at least until these serious allegations are fully investigated.

Bishop Council Nedd II, a member of Project 21's national advisory council, said: "It's galling that the head of the committee in charge of levying taxes has either a profound ignorance of tax law or a disinterest in adhering to the laws he wants others to follow."