Jul
29

Rangel Charged, Maffei & McMahon Still Sitting On Tainted Cash

July 29, 2010:

Despite the ethics committee revealing for the first time its charges against Charlie Rangel, Dan Maffei and Michael McMahon still refuse to give back the tainted campaign cash they’ve  received from the embattled congressman.  While dozens of their colleagues distance themselves from Rangel by returning his donations, Maffei and McMahon continue to look the other way when it comes to their party’s ethics problems in Washington.  Their refusal to return this cash – totaling more than $150,000 -- proves that they’ll always put their own interests ahead of principle.

Rangel Charged With 13 Counts of Wrongdoing

By Roll Call Staff

A special ethics subcommittee on Thursday afternoon charged Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) with 13 counts of violating House rules, including conduct reflecting discreditably on the chamber.

The charges include that Rangel used his staff and office extensively to fundraise for the City College of New York and to solicit potential donors for its Charlie B. Rangel Center; had numerous errors on his financial disclosure forms, including failure to disclose rent from a Manhattan brownstone and a Dominican villa and failure to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of other assets; and signed a residential lease on a rent-controlled New York apartment that he used for his campaign headquarters. 

The committee also found that while the landlord took legal action other tenants for using their apartments for nonresidential purposes, Rangel was on a “special handling list” because of his status as a Member of Congress and was not sued.

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