By Ben Fractenberg and Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel appears headed for a full-blown ethics trial after making little apparent progress in negotiations to settle a host of allegations he violated Congressional ethics rules before they were officially unveiled at a rare public hearing.
A House ethics sub-committee lodged 13 counts of misconduct against the veteran lawmaker Thursday afternoon during the first public step of an ethics trial that threatens to eviscerate Rangel's 40-year legacy in Congress.
Rep. Michael McCaul, one of the members of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, said that the committee had not held a public trial since Ohio Congressman James Traficant was convicted of taking bribes in 2002.
Rangel is reportedly still holding out hope that his legal team will be able to negotiate a plea bargain, but those present at Thursday's hearing said Rangel may have missed his chance by refusing to negotiate earlier.
McCaul said that Rangel had been given plenty of opportunity to cut a deal and avoid the trial, but he had chosen not to do so.
"We are now in the trial phase," McCaul said at Thursday's hearing.
The congressman reportedly reached a tentative plea deal following the hearing, but Republicans said the deal might have come too late, the New York Post reported, citing the Associated Press.
Rangel was not physically present at the hearing, but submitted a statement defending his track record to the ethics committee.
"The undisputed evidence in the record...is that Congressman Rangel did not dispense any political favors, that he did not intentionally violate any law, rule or regulation, and that he did not misuse his public office for private gain," the statement read.
It then went on to dispute each charge point by point, and was signed by Rangel's lawyers.
Democrats had wanted the veteran pol to take a deal and admit he violated House ethics rules, including by not paying taxes on his home in the Dominican Republic and accepting corporate travel junkets to the Caribbean.
Other major violations revealed Thursday by the panel include allegations that Rangel reached out to corporate lobbyists who had business before his powerful Ways and Means Committee to solicit money for his private projects, including a center named after him at City College, the New York Times reported.
Rangel has reportedly infuriated his Democratic colleagues by refusing the terms of a settlement in the hours leading up to the hearing. His ethics trial looks headed to begin in the fall, amid a contentious election season that will determine his and his colleagues' fates at the polls.
In Harlem, voters had mixed feelings about Rangel's future.
Mildred Best, 67, said she was happy to see Rangel stand up for himself and not cut a deal.
"I think if he took the deal, it's showing guilt," Best said. "He did more good than bad, or he wouldn't have been there all these years."
But Lord Harrison, 35, said it was time for Rangel — and Harlem — to move on.
"He's done a lot of good in Harlem, you can't dispute that," said Harrison. "But I feel like he should pass the torch."
