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The Washington Post
has joined the New York Times in
calling for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to step down as chairman of the Ways
and Means Committee in light of new ethics charges that emerged earlier this
week. The Times
reported Tuesday that Rangel helped preserve a valuable tax loophole for an oil
and gas drilling company while the company’s chief executive, Eugene Isenberg,
was pledging $1 million to the Charles B. Rangel School of Public Service at City
College of New York.
Rangel has said the timing of the donation’s pledge was
not related to his decision to oppose legislation closing the tax loophole.
But the Post
editorial board on Saturday was skeptical about the coincidence, noting that
Rangel met Isenberg to discuss the businessman’s support of the Rangel school
the same day the tax legislation was being considered in the Ways and Means
Committee. Right after his meeting with Isenberg, Rangel met with the company’s
lobbyists, to make sure Rangel would not close the loophole.
The revelation is the latest in a series of allegations that
have surfaced in the past five months. Rangel also has been accused of paying
below-market rents on four apartments, including one that he illegally used as
a campaign office. He has since given that office up. In addition, Rangel
failed to pay tens of thousands of tax dollars on rental income on a vacation
home in the Dominican Republic. He has since hired a forensic accountant to
determine exactly how much he owes for the past 17 years. He failed to report
the value of a condominium in Florida and did not report a privately sponsored
trip on his House travel disclosure forms. He also used congressional
letterhead to request meetings to promote donations to the City College
education center bearing his name.
The ethics committee is investigating the allegations,
and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said she expects the panel to
wrap up its investigation by the end of this Congress, Jan. 3.
The Times on
Wednesday called on Pelosi to force Rangel to step down from the Ways and Means
panel. The Post also argued that the
time has come for Rangel to relinquish the post.
“At a time when President-elect Barack Obama is holding
frequent news conferences to reassure the markets and the American people that
he is ready to lead the nation to economic recovery, the last thing he will
need is a chairman of Ways and Means caught up in a swirl of serious
allegations,” the Post opined.
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