Rangel has been seen as guilty of committing ethics violations by the House Ethics Committee. Censure may be the sternest of reprimands in Congress Rangel might be the first Congressman censured in some time if he receives one.
Censure the recommendation for Rangel
Not long ago, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) went on trial for committing ethics violations, by failing to pay taxes and improperly soliciting favors and donations . He didn't pay taxes on income and property when taking campaign contributions through improper channels . CBS reports that Rangel ran out of trial because he didn't have a lawyer which didn't stop him from getting convicted on Monday . He had plenty of time to secure counsel though . Congressman Rangel was found guilty of 11 of the 13 counts against him by the House Ethics committee . Rangel asked for “fairness and a drop of mercy” within the consequence recommendations . Rangel though that Blake Chisam, the chief counsel for the House ethics committee, was being too excessive when saying Rangel should be censured .
Worst except being expelled
A Congressional censure is the strongest consequence that can be handed down by Congress to an errant member, short of expulsion . It is much worse in legislature to get a censure as it is like a "scarlet letter" there . Anyone who gets censured ends up becoming really well known. This is because it hardly ever actually happens. The last Representatives that received censures were Gerry Studds and Daniel B. Crane, as outlined by Wikipedia . They were censured for their part in a 1983 sex scandal involving congressional pages . The House's last expulsion had been James Traficant (D-OH) in 2002. He got out of prison in 2009.
Democrats hit with it
Within the House, Charlie Rangel was one of the longest serving Democrats around. After the 2010 election results, it is clear the majority are mad at the democrats still. This might not be the end of his tenure as a Congressman, but it certainly doesn’t do him any favors . Rangel might escape censure, but a reprimand is all but assured .
Articles cited
CBS News
cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/18/politics/main7067266.shtml
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censure_in_the_United_States#Representative_censures
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