Ethics Panel to Clear Rangel?
By Bill Allison Feb 04 2009 4:13 p.m. 25 commentsHouse Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel predicted, on C-SPAN's Newsmakers program that aired Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, that his multitude of ethics woes would soon disappear. "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," National Journal's CongressDaily quoted the Rangel as saying.
If so, it's hard to imagine that the Select Committee on Ethics will have devoted anything more than a cursory glance at the various issues raised. Consider just one aspect, for which documents are in the public record: Rangel's financial disclosure forms. We took a look at his filings going all the way back to 1978, the first year members were required to disclose information on their personal finances, and found 28 instances in which he failed to report acquiring, owning or disposing of assets. Assets worth between $239,026 and $831,000 appear or disappear with no disclosure of when they were acquired, how long they were held, or when they were sold, as the operative House rules at the time required.
In September 2008, Rangel announced he was hiring a forensic accountant to review 20 years of his financial records, including his financial disclosure forms and his tax returns. The Washington Post has a nice overview of some of the issues raised.
In his calendar year 2006 filing, for example, Rangel reported 13 investments, mostly in mutual funds, which he valued in a range between $54,013 and $286,000, without indicating when he acquired them. In that same year, a quartet of assets that he reported acquiring in 2004 and worth between $95,004 and $250,000, disappeared from his filing without any indication of whether they were sold or exchanged.
The count is based solely on what Rangel disclosed in his filings. It does not include obvious omissions--he failed to disclose his book deal with MacMillan, which published his memoir And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since as an arrangement, nor did he disclose as income any advance or royalties he might have received from the book, which was published in April 2007. The count also does not include instances in which Rangel later corrected inaccurate filings, which he did on several occasions. For example, his original financial disclosure form for calendar year 1990, omitted what had been his principal asset through the 1980s and 1990s, an apartment building on W. 174th St. in New York. On May 15, 1991, the same day he filed the disclosure report, he advised the Ethics Committee in a letter accompanying his filing that the property produced a loss. On June 4, 1991, he sent the committee a second letter, stating that the building in fact had produced rental income between $15,001 and $50,000.
Because we focused on omissions from the filings, we also didn't include as an error the Florida property Rangel disclosed selling twice (in 2006 and in 2007). Also, we looked only at the reporting of assets and not income--rents, interest and dividends--or trips, in which other inaccuracies have been reported.
We used disclosures from the Center for Responsive Politics from 1995 to the present, and from the Law Library of the Library of Congress.
Rangel's office did not respond to requests for clarification and additional information on the filings, saying that they would not comment while the ethics investigation was ongoing. Rangel pledged to release 20 years worth of tax returns when the probe is complete.
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[...] Alliston asks the question: Ethics Panel to Clear Rangel? House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel predicted, on C-SPANs Newsmakers program that [...]
[...] personal financial disclosure forms, according to a new analysis by the Sunlight Foundation’s Real Time Investigations. Assets worth between $239,026 and $831,000 appeared and disappeared with no disclosure of when [...]
[...] Alliston asks the question: Ethics Panel to Clear Rangel? House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel predicted, on C-SPANs Newsmakers program that [...]
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[...] he’s black? It’s hard to imagine any other reason. “Assets worth between $239,026 and $831,000 appear or disappear with no disclosure of when [...]
What about the income tax implications of those rent-controlled rentals? The real estate company did not have to rent three of the apts at rent-controlled rates, yet did do anyway. That would seem to trigger federal income tax. Why is this issue getting missied?
The Congressman shouldn't need to get rent-controlled apartments (including one for a campaign office if memory serves). Nor should he file potentially misleading and incomplete financial reports. But as we've learned with some recent nominees, he is not alone. Which raises the question of what percentage of the Washington insiders are paying too few taxes?
[...] tax problems and determined that he failed to report taxable events 28 seperate times. Here is what they found, We took a look at his filings going all the way back to 1978, the first year members were required [...]
Carl, do you think that his acceptance of the rent-controlled apartments triggers federal income tax? If so, this issue needs to be raised.
[...] on Rangel’s problems here. Plus, After Daschle and Killefer, why should Rangel get a [...]
Ethics Committee? Why isn't he in prison?
It's the soft bigotry of lowered expectations.
[...] is, of course, the last thing that the Democrats want to do, given that it’s going to be kind of hard to explain why Rangel has quite so many rent-controlled apartments, was so behind on his taxes, and generally [...]
[...] is, of course, the last thing that the Democrats want to do, given that it’s going to be kind of hard to explain why Rangel has quite so many rent-controlled apartments, was so behind on his taxes, and generally [...]
[...] ← Ethics Panel to Clear Rangel? [...]
[...] new report from the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation finds Rangel had at least 28 omissions in his taxes over [...]
[...] As of yesterday Rangel believed that his ethics troubles were drawing to a close. [...]
[...] his latest investigation of Charles Rangel’s finances. You can read Bill’s report here. And listen to the interview below:Related Ways to Take Action: Stop Bill [...]
Charles Rangel is my representative and I have much to thank him for both personally and in improvements to our district. You've looked into his tax records back to 1978 and found 28 mistakes-- wow! Bet if you gave the same scrutiny to the Republican side of the aisle, you'd find that number to be minuscule. Our tax code is not exactly easy. This whole investigation seems to be motivated and promoted by the Republican side of the aisle who find Representative Rangel too liberal or perhaps a shade too dark to hold the Chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee-- such power, in their estimation as revealed by the behavior of their leaders, can only be wielded by some crusty old white man with a conservative bent. Wish you and the Press would investigate that angle. All my representative seems to be guilty of is not having a good enough accountant or not having a good enough memory or professional help to fill out the disclosure forms correctly (I had to do one once and, believe me, it was daunting-- I finally had to give it over to my husband to do because I had no time to keep track of our finances). The harassment I've witnessed against Rep. Rangel since the Democrats gained the majority in the House is obvious, obsessive and aimed at driving him out of his position. As a constituent, I support him and insist that he stay.
To Rep. Rangel's constituent:Yes, yes, he's brought a lot of pork back to your district. The problem with his inaccurate reporting is that, as you state, he is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committe and, as such, writes the tax code to which he apparently can not adhere. What on earth is confusing about listing your assets? Anyone who has ever applied for a mortgage has done it and Mr. Rangel certainly has done that!No matter what the ideology or race, if there is a consistency in inaccurate reporting, it should be investigated.
"Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today." --- Mahatma Gandhi An ounce of hypocracy is worth a pound of ambition. --- Michael Korda
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[...] 1978, Rangel has also failed to report assets 28 times on his financial disclosure forms due to an investigation that revealed sums hundreds of thousands of dollars disappearing and appearing without notice from [...]