By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Rep. Charles Rangel was found guilty Tuesday on 11 counts of ethics violations, a House panel found.
Rangel's ethics trial began Monday, after the Harlem congressman made a brief appearance before the subcommittee. He said he needed more time to prepare his defense, as his lawyers had dropped him after he ran out of money.
"I am disappointed by the unfortunate findings of the Ethics Subcommittee," Rangel said in a statement. "The Committee's actions are unprecedented in view of the fact that they arrived at without rebuttal or counter evidence on my behalf."
The House Adjudicatory Subcommittee announced the convictions just before noon, after deliberating behind closed doors since Monday afternoon.
"We have tried to act with fairness led only by the facts and the law," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chairwoman of the subcommittee. "And I believe we have accomplished that mission."
Rangel blasted the subcommittee in his statement.
"How can anyone have confidence in the decision of the Ethics Subcommittee when I was deprived of due process rights, right to counsel and was not even in the room?" Rangel said.
Originally Rangel had been charged with 13 ethics violations, which included soliciting donations from organizations with business before the Ways and Means Committee — which he had chaired — for the creation of a public service center at City College to be named in his honor, improperly using a rent-controlled apartment as a campaign headquarters, and failing to disclose personal income.
The eight-member bipartisan subcommittee was deadlocked on count 3, "Conduct in Violation of the House Gift Rule," which covered contributions to the Rangel Center at CCNY.
Count 5, a violation involving misuse of official stationary, was rolled into Count 4, which also dealt with postal laws. Rangel was convicted on that count.
Ranking member of the committe Rep. Michael McCaul praised the subcommittee for acting in a "nonpartisan" and "dignified" manner.
The full Ethics committee will now consider possible punishments for Rangel. The committee will then deliver its recommendation to the full House, Rangel spokesman Elbert Garcia told reporters.
Possible punishments could include censure, denial of privileges or even expulsion.
It wasn't immediately clear when the hearing on punishments would begin.
Lofgren said the subcommittee would not publicly discuss its deliberations.
Rangel's ethics trial began Monday, after the Harlem congressman made a brief appearance before the subcommittee. He said he needed more time to prepare his defense, as his lawyers had dropped him after he ran out of money.
"Fifty years of public service is on the line," Rangel told the subcommittee in an emotional plea.
"I truly believe that I'm not being treated fairly," he added. "I think I’m entitled to more."
He then walked out of the proceedings. The trial continued without him after the panel determined the facts in question regarding Rangel's conduct weren't in dispute.
House Ethics Committee Chief Counsel Blake Chisam, who was acting as prosecutor, said Monday he believed the violations were a result of sloppiness, not corruption.
"I see no evidence of corruption," Chisam said during the public hearing. "I believe that the Congressman, quite frankly, was overzealous in many of the things that he did" and was "sloppy in his personal finances."
On Tuesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-profit legal watchdog, again demanded Rangel’s resignation.
"All of Mr. Rangel's theatrics aside, the facts were clear: Mr. Rangel violated numerous House rules and federal laws,” the group’s executive director Melanie Sloan said in a statement.
“Whether these violations were deliberate or inadvertent, the American people deserve to be represented by members of Congress who adhere to the highest ethical standards," Sloan said. "Mr. Rangel should resign.”
A full list of the charges against Rangel can be found here.
