Charlie Rangel Sues Boehner for Ethics Censure

Charlie Rangel has sued seven lawmakers, including John Boehner and former House ethics chair Zoe Lofgren, in an effort to overturn a 2010 ethics censure, Politico reports. Rangel says the ethics committee withheld relevant evidence in the case, which resulted in a 333-79 House vote in favor of a censure, USA Today reports. The suit refers to a withheld memo pointing to flaws in the investigation; had Rangel known about it, he would have called for a dismissal of the probe, the court documents say.

The lawsuit cites "numerous, flagrant, knowing, and intentional violations" of due process, arguing that the censure caused "irreparable harm that cannot be compensated by money damages." The censure against the longstanding congressman was "almost unheard of," a Washington ethics lawyer says. For Rangel, "the stakes are high because this has to do with his legacy." (More Charles Rangel stories.)