By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Sen. Chuck Schumer appears to be toning down support for Rep. Charles Rangel as some Democrats urge the Congressman to accept a deal on his recent ethic charges, according to several published reports.
A taciturn statement released Sunday contrasted the open support several members of Congress have shown Rangel in the past, the Daily News reported.
"The senator is going to give Cong. Rangel a chance to get his case out there before coming to any judgment," a spokesman from Sen. Schumer's office told the Daily News.
This statement comes a month after Sen. Schumer showed his support to Rep. Rangel by donating $10,000 to his reelection campaign.
Democrats running for reelection in November have given back more than $500,000 donated to them by Rangel since the ethics allegations emerged Thursday, the News reported.
"Democrats will start heading for the hills — distancing themselves from Charlie once those charges are out — so if he wants to keep a modicum of support, he better reach a deal with the House over the next few days," a senior state Democrat told the New York Post.
A House panel has scheduled a reading of ethics charges against Rep. Rangel on Thursday.
Rangel is accused of accepting four rent-stabilized apartments in New York City and creating an alleged tax loophole for an oil executive who contributed to a City College program under the his name. Rangel also failed to pay taxes on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.
"He did some things that look like they ought to get him thrown out of Congress, and if it turns out that he did them, he's going to get thrown out of Congress," former DNC Chairman Howard Dean said on "Fox News Sunday."
The longtime Harlem Congressman said over the weekend that he could beat a public trial, opposing the advice that Democratic leaders have given him to cut a deal and avoid the possibility of Republicans using his case to take back the majority in the House in November.
Rangel's ethics trial is scheduled for the day before the Democratic primary in New York — Sept. 13.
"It is in his [Rangel’s] own interest and the Democratic Party’s interest to cut a deal," House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also faced ethics charges in the 1990s, told the News.
