Ethics Committee to Investigate Rep. Rangel’s Personal Finances

The House ethics committee will likely investigate Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) personal finances, as committee chairman Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) today announced he would advise the panel to do so, honoring Rangel’s own request for a review.

“It is my intent to recommend to Ranking Member Hastings and the Committee that we honor Chairman Rangel’s request. We have a Standards Committee meeting posted for Wednesday, September 24,” Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) said in a statement today.

Rangel plans to hire a forensic accountant to examine his personal finances, the New York Democrat announced this week as he faced mounting criticism over several financial scandals that have dogged him this summer. The accountant will turn findings over to the committee for investigation, Rangel said.

Rangel has faced calls from Republicans to step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, though Rangel’s attorney has denied that such a move is under consideration.

The committee is already investigating Rangel for several scandals that have plagued him of late: his failure to pay taxes on rental income from a Dominican Republic villa, earmarks for a community college center bearing his name, and his four rent-controlled apartments in New York City.