The House ethics trial against Rep. Charlie Rangel began and ended in a flash yesterday, skipping oral argument and any semblance of a defense; the 40-year incumbent now awaits a verdict.
Shed no tears for Charlie: He’s a sad old man, but he brought it on himself.
Rangel walked out of the proceedings after just 30 minutes, demanding a delay because he had no lawyer — and “I don’t have the opportunity to have a legal defense fund set up.”
(The panel — rightly — said no dice.)
But as The Post’s Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein reported Sunday, for the last two years Rangel raided his political action committee, illegally shifting some $393,000 to his lawyers.
On top of all his other transgressions.
And, unlike normal folk, Rangel wouldn’t think of digging into his own pocket to pay his bills, as Ethics Chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren suggested. Instead, he asked for “pro bono” lawyers.
In English, “pro bono” means for free; in Rangelese, it means for me.
It’s all so pathetic.
It was Rangel’s own behavior — over the course of years — that triggered the trial in the first place.
His alleged abuses (most first reported by The Post) include underreporting assets and income, using House stationery to solicit funds and leasing four rent-regulated apartments in Harlem.
And don’t forget that villa in the Dominican Republic for which he failed to pay taxes.
Rangel’s guilt is so clear, says the ethics panel prosecutor, “there are no genuine issues as to any material facts in this case.” Indeed, Rangel admitted to them in a House floor speech in August.
What happens next is unclear.
Indeed, all that’s certain is that a 40-year congressional career is ending in well-earned obloquy.
Given that the GOP takes over the House in January, it’s unlikely that Charlie Rangel will ever again be in a position to abuse the public trust.
We hope he can live with himself.