House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), in a lively press conference Thursday, vehemently denied any wrongdoing regarding his use of congressional stationery to write on behalf of a school that bears his name.

The lawmaker repeatedly confronted The Washington Post reporter who broke the story on Tuesday, stating at one point that he wants “to set a confrontational tone so that the other papers might be able to at least report that, since [the issue raised in the article] is such a boring thing to me.”

The lawmaker then called for an ethics investigation into the issue to “clear the air” and to ensure that other members of Congress would know the rules regarding the appropriate use of the congressional stationery.

At one point during the roughly 45-minute press conference, Rangel addressed reporter Christopher Lee and asked him if he thought the letters solicited funds.

“Well, Mr. Chairman, I’ll let the letters speak for themselves,” Lee responded and attempted to ask a question, before being cut off by Rangel.

Pressed by Lee as to whether the meetings mentioned in the letters Rangel wrote to people including David Rockefeller and Donald Trump were for the purpose of soliciting funds, Rangel said, “We are talking about, young man, whether or not I crossed the line in writing the letters, OK?”

Lee reported on July 15 that Rangel had used his congressional stationery to write potential contributors on behalf of the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. The story asserted that some of the recipients could have business interests before the Ways and Means Committee. Rangel disputed this claim.

“My imagination — and I have a lot of it — cannot imagine any of these foundations having any issue before my committee,” he said. “And that's where the investigation could stretch and say, ‘Nelson Rockefeller and Trump are so rich that when they wake up in the morning automatically there's an issue before your committee.’ ”

He added, “But I want that aired out. I'm talking about the letter and the intent. So that's what I want.”

Asked whether the letters were franked, Rangel said, “I don't think so. I don't know. But I consider it official business.”

Rangel repeatedly expressed pride in the work he had done for the school and indicated that he would continue despite the scrutiny.

“I want to clear the air as to what a member can or cannot do. So you can infer that I'm hoping to get a clarification that will support what I have done,” he said. “And as I did say earlier, so that I can encourage other members to do the same thing.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she supported Rangel’s call for an ethics investigation.

“I support his request,” she said, but stopped short when asked whether she would file one on his behalf. “I support his request. That's my answer.”

Rangel said that if no one filed the ethics complaint, he would direct his staff to find out how he could file it himself.

Rangel also briefly touched on The New York Times story last week regarding the legality of his four rent-controlled apartments in a New York City building.

“There is no one that can tell me what the rate is or will be, because there is no comparable apartment,” Rangel said, explaining that the apartment where his family lives is two small apartments combined.

He indicated that the ethics complaint would not have to do with the rent-control issue.

“That’s a little too close to home,” he stated.

Rangel concluded by saying that he hoped an ethics investigation would yield two things: to further help members navigate ethics rules and “to whoop The Washington Post.”