Members of the House ethics committee began deliberating charges Monday that Representative Charles B. Rangel violated Congressional rules. But the hearing was cut short by the Harlem congressman’s dramatic exit from the proceedings.
Mr. Rangel, who appeared at the inquiry without counsel, stunned the packed hearing room by walking out after explaining that he had no lawyer because he could not afford the millions of dollars in legal fees he had wracked up during the two-year investigation.
After declaring that “I respectfully withdraw from these proceedings,” Mr. Rangel shook hands with the lawyers for the ethics committee who were preparing to lay out the case against him and walked out of the room. After meeting privately, the Committee resigned to make a case against Rangel in his absence.
“Fifty years of public service is on the line,” said Rangel in his emotional opening statement before the ethics panel. His seat in Congress does not appear to be on the line, however, because he easily won reelection in this month’s midterm election despite the ethics charges burdening him.
The ethics committee could recommend expulsion from the House as a punishment, but the full House would then have to vote on the matter. A four-person ethics investigatory panel previously concluded that a formal reprimand would be the most suitable punishment for Rangel’s infractions. (The House would have to vote on that, as well.)
In July, Rangel reportedly signed a deal in which he would have pled guilty to some of the charges without a public hearing. Republicans on the panel allegedly blocked this proposal, leading to this week’s televised proceedings. More.