Rangel: ‘Some sense of relief' that he can talk about case Thursday

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said there’s been no change in his showdown with the ethics panel.

Rangel’s attorney is reportedly in talks with the committee’s attorneys on a settlement that could allow him and his party to avoid a high-profile public trial.

“Absolutely nothing has changed; I won’t know anything until I get back,” Rangel told reporters ahead of an address he gave Wednesday to the Urban League.

However, after his speech Rangel told reporters it would be a relief to tell his side of the story on Thursday.

Rangel struck a defiant but upbeat tone in his luncheon address to the Urban League that at times seemed to be speaking for his own plight as well as that of black Americans, delivering a powerful message of providing hope, employment opportunities and equality for all.

“Unemployment is a bitter and contagious kind of thing,” he said. “Sick people or people locked up in jail cannot compete,” he said.

He spoke about ensuring justice and fairness and seemed to end the speech with a personal message that he intends to fight the ethics charges against him.

“Whether it’s personal or political, we all know that life is not a crystal sphere,” he said. “But we can’t give up.”

Rangel ended the speech by pledging to come together at the end of the day and stand together with “dignity and honor,” knowing that they did everything they could to serve their country and communities.

Afterward, he was swarmed by a throng of reporters and cameras. He told them he did not know anything more about the possibility of a settlement because his lawyers were involved in the negotiations.

If no deal is reached before tomorrow and the ethics committee’s adjudicatory hearing goes forward, Rangel said it would actually be a relief to tell his side of the story.

“Believe me, as pleasant as it may be tomorrow ... there is some sense of relief that at long last I can talk about it,” he said.

He also said he did not know whether he would have a chance to speak at the hearing. Reporters and cameras followed him down a long flight of stairs at the D.C. Convention Center peppering him with questions that were brushed aside by an attorney accompanying him.

The House ethics panel has scheduled an organizational meeting Thursday at which the specific charges against Rangel would be aired for the first time.

—This story was updated at 2:35 p.m.

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