Rangel Leaves His Own Ethics Hearing

Making a move that, while certainly bold, may not help his case much in the end, Rep. Charles Rangel decided to peace out of a House ethics committee meeting as members deliberated over charges of ethics violations against Rangel himself. –KA

The New York Times:

Mr. Rangel, who appeared at the inquiry alone, stunned the packed hearing room by walking out after complaining that he had no lawyer because he could not afford the millions of dollars in legal fees he had racked up during the two-year investigation.

After declaring that “I respectfully withdraw from these proceedings,” Mr. Rangel shook hands with the lawyers for the ethics committee who were preparing to lay out the case against him and strode steadily out of the room. But after meeting privately, committee members resumed the proceedings without Mr. Rangel, a Democrat who has represented Harlem for four decades.

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