(CNSNews.com) – The embattled chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), is involved in what may be the most important fight of his political career.
Rangel met privately Monday night with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and discussed the status of his chairmanship of the committee that oversees the nation's tax laws.
In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, according to the New York Times, Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said that Pelosi supported Rangel staying in the chairmanship.
''The chairman believes that the facts should prevail, not innuendo or editorial opinion, or the partisan actions of the Republican leadership,'' Davis said, according to the Times.
''Mr. Rangel believes, I believe and his colleagues believe that making inadvertent errors with no intention to conceal, no personal enrichment and no corruption of the public trust, is not disqualifying," Davis said. "He is prepared to let his constituents make the final judgment on his fitness to serve. Whatever the facts are, he has not dishonored the House, he has not dishonored himself, he has not done anything intentionally wrong."
Rangel also met with Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee, who expressed their support for him amid Republican calls for his ouster. Republicans have attempted to make Rangel’s troubles into an issue ahead of the November elections, in an attempt to blunt potential Democratic gains in both chambers this fall.
Rangel’s troubles have snowballed since July, when The Washington Post reported that he used official congressional letterhead to solicit meetings with wealthy potential donors for a public service school that bears his name at the City College of New York.
Soon after, The New York Times reported that Rangel was renting four federally subsidized apartments in Harlem, one of which he purportedly was using as an illegal campaign office.
Rangel’s latest troubles came when The New York Post published allegations that that he had failed to pay at least $10,000 in back taxes or report nearly $75,000 in income from a luxury beachfront property he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rangel has since hired a forensic accountant to decipher his personal tax records, which he called a “mess.”
Rangel, who has requested that the House ethics committee investigte his case, called an emergency, closed-door meeting of the New York congressional delegation Tuesday to discuss his recent troubles. When asked about his future after his meeting with Pelosi, Rangel responded by reciting his name, rank, and serial number from his days in the Army. When asked whether she had asked Rangel to step down, Pelosi only shook her head.
Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other top Republicans sent a letter to Pelosi calling for Rangel to step down.
“Given Chairman Rangel’s continuing ethical lapses, he cannot effectively carry out his duties as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,” the leaders wrote to the Speaker. “(Y)ou, as the Speaker of the House, must insist that Rep. Rangel step down from his Ways and Means chairmanship.”
House Democrats expressed strong support for Rangel last week, including Pelosi, who decried Republican attempts to paint him as unethical, saying in a letter to Boehner that attacks against Rangel were “unfair” and “intemperate.”