WASHINGTON — Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday that investigators have unearthed new allegations of misconduct against him, while House Democratic leaders increased the pressure on him to reach a settlement before a congressional trial starts Thursday.
“We waited almost two years, and they finally investigated, and guess what — they have some more alleged violations,” Rangel said.
The embattled pol did not reveal whether the latest accusations were previously unknown to the public or were related to the original charges that prompted the probe by the House Ethics Committee.
The alleged misdeeds include Rangel using House stationery to solicit contributions for a self-named center at City College, failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, and not paying taxes on rental income from his Dominican villa — all first reported by The Post. He also kept four rent-regulated apartments in Harlem.
House Democratic leaders were pressuring Rangel to make a deal before the politically embarrassing trial is set to begin, Politico.com reported.
Last night, Rangel met with one of his lawyers and two Democratic leaders.
“I was presenting him with some of my observations,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who chairs the House Democrats’ campaign arm.
Van Hollen added that he was acting “as a friend.”
House Ethics Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) also met with him, Fox News reported.
Lofgren heads the subcommittee that will lay out the evidence against the former chairman of the powerful Ways & Means Committee.
Sources have said that Rangel has rejected settlement offers because he doesn’t want to admit certain things.
Even if a deal is struck, the charges are still expected to be made public Thursday.
The Ethics Committee will later release a final report laying out the charges plus any evidence that would prove them, aides said.
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, a member of the GOP leadership, called on the ethics panel to “do its job,” and seemed cool to talk of a letting Rangel make a deal.
If the committee finds evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, it could refer the matter to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. So Rangel and his lawyers must make sure he doesn’t open himself up to jail time by confessing to any criminal misdeeds.
At the center of any settlement talks would be which rules Rangel is found guilty of violating and which punishment — ranging from a letter to a formal censure, fine or even expulsion –the committee votes to level.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Rosenberg in NY