Politics

Rangel Guilty on Nearly All Charges

By Paul Blumenthal

The adjudicatory subcommittee hearing the ethics case of Rep. Charlie Rangel just announced that they have found him guilty on all but one charge. Rangel initially faced 13 charges, but the subcommittee rolled one charge into another and found him guilty of 11 out of 12 charges.

The case moves next to the full ethics committee where the punishment will be determined. The punishment will likely be either a reprimand or a censure. Both of these punishments could come with a monetary fine as well.

Expulsion is incredibly unlikely. Only two members of Congress–Mike Myers and Jim Traficant–have been expelled from the House since the end of the Civil War. Both had already been convicted in a court of law of violating laws connected to the abuse of their public office.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on November 16, 2010 (boomark / email).