Rangel gift$ to lawyers (Tax-cheat Charlie fends off congressional ethics investigations)

NY Post ^ | 2/03/10 | S.A. MILLER

[Libloather]

Rangel gift$ to lawyers
By S.A. MILLER
Last Updated: 4:07 PM, February 3, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel spent huge amounts of campaign cash in the last quarter of 2009 on lawyers to fend off congressional ethics investigations, campaign-finance reports show.

The Harlem Democrat dropped $575,000 on five teams of lawyers since Oct. 1 -- the lion's share of the $687,000 he spent that quarter.

It's far more than the $354,694 Rangel's campaign says he raised during that three-month span.

For the past year, the House ethics panel has been probing Rangel's use of congressional letterhead to raise money for a center that bears his name at City College; his failure to report or pay taxes on rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic; and his deal for four rent-stabilized apartments at Lenox Terrace in Harlem.

[Libloather]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (C) shares a laugh with Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) (Left) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) as he arrives to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee on "The President's FY2011 Budget" proposals for FY2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 3, 2010.

[Diogenesis]

"You are both off Scot-free. Scottish law."

[NEW YORKCITYGOPMAN]

In New York District 15, the Democrat incumbent Charlie Rangel may have a Republican challenger

Reverend Michel Faulkner will be announcing his candidacy on Feb 12.

Rev Faulkner had been the head of the Central Baptist Church, 92nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue for many years. He played profession football for the New York Jets in 1981. He was briefly a Republican district leader from Manhattan’s Upper West Side and a delegate to the Republican Convention in New York City in 2004. He is fairly well known in the Upper West Side/Harlem Community. Here is his website.

www.faulknerforcongress.com