Rangel Sets Modern Day Ethics Record For Ethics Violations! Still No Ethics Probe From Speaker Pelosi

We have been calling out Speaker Pelosi for months on her blatant hypocrisy and double standards.

From Doug Ross:

Who says Congress is inefficient? The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee -- Charlie Rangel (D-NY) -- just set a new record.

He is now the subject of at least 32 simultaneous ethics issues or investigations. The Sunlight Foundation announced that it discovered 28 mysterious asset transfers by Rangel that come on top of a number
of other ongoing investigations.

• The Sunlight Foundation found 28 instances since 1978 in which Rangel hid (or "failed to report") asset transfers of values between $239,026 and $831,000 as House rules required.


• Rangel failed to disclose $75,000 in income from a vacation rental property he owned in the Dominican Republic. After the tax "mistake" was discovered, he first blamed his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.


• In violation of New York City statutes, he secured four rent controlled apartments, three to serve as luxury living quarters at bargain-basement prices.

• He abandoned his Mercedes in the House parking garage.

• He had his campaign committee "funnel $80,000 to his son for performing little or no work on a Web site."

• He killed a tax increase that would have hurt one of his major donors.

As of yesterday Rangel believed that his ethics troubles were drawing to a close.He gloated, "I think that next Tuesday you will see a break in this and as soon as the Ethics Committee organizes they ought to be able to dismiss this."

***

Republicans had asked Mr. Rangel to step down last September.

Speaker Pelosi's initial response was in defense of Rangel, whom she called "a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives".

Less than a week later, Speaker Pelosi quietly asked Rangel to step aside.

In November, Pelosi said a House Ethics Committee report would be finished and released by January 3rd.

But then in early December, Pelosi said that she "I don't foresee" him losing his post.

On January 3rd, Rangel again denied any wrongdoing... ...and the report was nowhere to be found.

Rangel continues his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee in the new, 111th Congress.