The Rangel conundrum

For most of
this week, and then most of yesterday, Democrats held out hope that Rep. Charles
Rangel (D-N.Y.) would make a deal. But after much back-and-forth between the
ethics committee and his lawyers, it became clear that Rangel doesn’t want a
deal that would no doubt expose him to more legal
liability — Democrats do.

For the frenzied days leading up to the hearing yesterday, at which 13 charges
against Rangel were announced, Democrats held their fire and only four members
went public to call for Rangel to step down. Leaders had feared that more calls
for resignation in advance of the hearing would have prompted an intra-party
feud between those Democrats and the members of the Congressional Black Caucus
who were urging their colleagues to avoid a rush to judgment. The
stampede never materialized, but it could now.

Democrats aren’t hearing about Rangel from angry constituents in significant
numbers, but they are taking daily fire over healthcare reform, the
stimulus, runaway deficits and a terrible economy. Still,
in this environment they know they don’t want to spend September and
possibly part of October answering questions about an ethics trial for
transgressions by the man they trusted with the chairmanship of the House Ways
and Means Committee.

According to a story in our paper today by Bob Cusack,
Rangel tangled with the ethics committee throughout the two-year investigation
he continues to remind everyone that he requested. He missed deadlines and made
misleading statements to the press, and the committee ended up issuing a
subpoena at one point for documents they were waiting for. The committee
members characterized Rangel’s behavior as “troubling.” Rangel told
the press on July 7 that “there is no accusation against me doing
something wrong except by the press,” which was reportedly just 21 days
after the Statement of Alleged Violation had been adopted by the committee and
transmitted to Rangel.

Rangel is the ultimate survivor and appears ready for a protracted fight.
Democrats can call for his resignation this weekend, or over the six-week
congressional recess, but they should probably expect to return to Washington
for a media circus in September when Rangel faces a trial in the House of
Representatives.

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