WASHINGTON (AP) — Majority Democrats, already facing grim prospects in upcoming congressional elections, could suffer more damage if the House of Representatives moves forward Thursday with an ethics trial of one of its longest-serving members.
The ethics storm has built around Congressman Charles Rangel of New York for months, as the House ethics committee investigated allegations he misused his office for fundraising, failed to disclose income, paid taxes late and may have helped with a tax shelter for a company whose chief executive was a major donor.
Some fellow Democrats already are calling for Rangel to resign and prevent the possibility of an embarrassing public airing of details of the 20-term congressman’s alleged transgressions three months before elections.
Democrats hold a sizable majority in the House, where all members face re-election every two years. But the sagging popularity of President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats — under the weight of a stalled economy, stubborn near-10-percent unemployment and voter dissatisfaction with government — have led many to predict that Republicans will take a majority of seats.
The country is awash in anti-incumbent sentiment that has been particularly stirred by the addition of so-called tea party candidates — ultraconservatives who want lower taxes and less government involvement in their lives.
Rangel’s case, damaging to Democrats on its face, further hurts the party among those who recall that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assumed leadership of the lower chamber of Congress promising to root out the corruption of her Republican predecessors.
Thursday is a deadline of sorts for Rangel. An ethics committee panel of four Democrats and four Republicans has scheduled a public hearing where precise charges against him would be aired in public for the first time.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rangel said he survived a Chinese attack as a soldier in North Korea 60 years ago. As a result, he said, “I haven’t had a bad day since.” But Rangel said “today I have to reassess that statement.”
The trial could go away if Rangel negotiates a plea bargain, admitting to substantial violations, or resigns his seat.
The subcommittee’s task is to decide whether the charges can be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Just spelling them out would be damaging in an election season, especially one that is as riven as this one has become with partisan rancor.
Rangel remained noncommittal on whether he was open to a deal to avoid all that.
Decisions among fellow Democrats to call for Rangel to quit have become treacherous.
A Democrat who calls for resignation, returns Rangel’s campaign donations or just condemns his conduct risks alienating the Congressional Black Caucus, a key Democratic constituency, which has warned against a rush to judgment.
But if a fellow lawmaker remains silent, he risks being tagged an inside-Washington hypocrite who broke a promise to rid Congress of corruption.
The charges are the equivalent of an indictment, not a conviction. So condemning unproven allegations against Rangel could smack of the very rush to judgment against which the Black Caucus warned.
But for vulnerable Democrats, especially freshmen eager to prove their ethical bona fides to voters, couched statements of condemnation could be beneficial, some Democratic lawmakers and their aides said in interviews — under a cloak of anonymity.
Rangel could face a report criticizing his conduct, a reprimand or censure by the full House or even expulsion — the latter very unlikely in this case.
If there’s no plea bargain, a rare ethics trial would probably begin in September.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.