Politician’s Fund Raising Prompts Call for Ethics Inquiry

The House ethics committee has been asked to examine whether the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles B. Rangel, violated ethics policies by using House stationery for his fund-raising efforts on behalf of a nonprofit institution that bears his name, reports The Washington Post.

The House Republican leader and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, in Washington, a government watchdog group, made separate calls yesterday for the panel to look into Mr. Rangel’s solicitation of corporate donors for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. Mr. Rangel, 78, was the target of criticism last year for securing a $1.9-million earmark to help start the center, which promotes diversity in public administration and will store his official papers upon his retirement.

“This is yet another example of the hypocrisy of House Democrats who famously promised to ‘drain the swamp’ in Washington,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner. “Using taxpayer resources to solicit donations for a ‘monument-to-me’ earmark fiasco raises serious questions, and the ethics committee has a responsibility to examine this issue.”

Responding to questions about his fund-raising efforts last week Mr. Rangel said, “If it was an ethical problem, I wouldn’t do it.” He could not be reached by The Post for comment yesterday, the newspaper said.

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