Metro

Rangel set to fight ethics rap as Dem calls for ouster

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday that he is looking forward to making his case before a special House panel Thursday on ethics charges — even as a fellow Democrat called for his resignation from Congress.

“Come Thursday, we all will be able to move forward together,” Rangel told reporters in his Harlem office.

The Democratic lawmaker said the long-running suspicions were “like a boil” that’s painful — but added, “We’ll burst it on Thursday.”

VIDEO: RANGEL: I WON’T LET YOU DOWN

At least one fellow Democrat isn’t waiting around for the procedure.

In a statement to The Hill newspaper, Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) became the first Democrat to call for Rangel’s resignation.

“It is regrettable, but Charlie Rangel needs to resign from his seat in Congress. This isn’t about being a Democrat or Republican this is about preserving the public trust,” she said.

With a reputation as something of a crusader for congressional ethics, Sutton donated to charity the $7,000 given to her campaign by Rangel.

Rangel yesterday offered no information about the serious charges being brought against him after a two-year investigation.

He’s been probed for using congressional stationery to raise funds for a center named after himself at CUNY; making $600,000 in income he didn’t report on financial disclosure forms; failing to pay taxes on income from his Dominican villa; and maintaining four rent-regulated apartments in Harlem.

The Post was the first to report on the center and Rangel’s corporate solicitations, as well as his missing disclosures and the villa tax dodge.

Asked how his ethics saga could hurt fellow Democrats, Rangel replied, “Pain is pain.”

Rangel’s case goes on Thursday to an eight-member “adjudicatory panel” of fellow lawmakers who will consider the evidence against him and recommend a punishment if warranted.

Committee lawyers were engaged in negotiations with Rangel on a plea, which appears to be the only way he could avoid a distracting trial.

“I suspect we’ll see some pressure on him” from Democrats to resign, said congressional scholar Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

Republicans were already putting pressure on Rangel’s fellow New York Democrats, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, who are both up for election, to return his donations.

Additional reporting by S.A. Miller in Washington

geoff.earle@nypost.com