Congress of angels: 'near-perfect' ethics record.

• Author: Balko, Radley
• Position: Citings

IN JULY, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee requesting an investigation into possible rules violations by a member of Congress: Charlie Rangel. The Washington Post had reported that Rangel may have improperly used congressional letterhead for a letter seeking donations for a college building that bears his name. Rangel filed the complaint to see if he "inadvertently" violated House rules.

Around the same time, The New York Times revealed a more serious potential breach: Rangel's use of four rent-controlled apartments in Harlem's luxury Lenox Terrace complex. Since most city residents with rent-controlled apartments have just one, some observers--notably the National Legal and Policy Center, which filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission--speculated that Rangel's accumulation of four may have constituted an unreported gift. Furthermore, New York City law states that a rent-controlled apartment must be used as a primary residence, but Rangel was using at least one as a campaign office. None of this has attracted the House Ethics Committee's attention.

Despite all the congressional corruption that has been exposed during the last few years, including several cases that led to federal indictments, Rangel's request was the first ethics complaint filed against a...