Rangel condemns newspaper's coverage of him as 'totally unfair'

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) fires back at the New York Post in a video that hit the Web on Monday, decrying the newspaper's coverage of him as "totally unfair" and motivated only out of a desire to sell more newspapers.

The clip begins with a question from an unnamed reporter, who asks Rangel to explain the almost $700,000 in recent amendments to his financial disclosure forms.

"There's nothing to discuss; I just ask for a little fairness in terms of having the Ethics Committee, who has a job, to evaluate the conduct of the members. I asked them to evaluate mine," Rangel says in the video. "I think it's totally unfair for the New York Post to send investigators to my family's homes, and to do that type of thing, but I guess it's all selling papers."

Another reporter then asks, "Do you think you've been targeted for a reason?"

"I'm just saying that... the only thing I want to do is to make certain that I maintain the good name, honesty and integrity that I've enjoyed for over 50 years, and the person that evaluates it is the committee, Republicans and Democrats, not the New York Post," Rangel replies.

Rangel has fielded significant criticism over the past few months for a number of tax-related ethics violations. As investigations continue, some lawmakers have asked Rangel to resign his post as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, but the congressman -- with the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) -- has balked at the idea.

(h/t Politics Daily for first posting the video)