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Pelosi Asks Rangel to Step Down as Tax Panel Chair

Tax committee boss dogged by questions over own returns

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 16, 2008 7:51 AM CDT
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(Newser) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has privately asked New York Rep. Charles Rangel to step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee after it emerged that his personal tax filings neglected to report income from a rental property for some 20 years, says a source to the New York Post. “You have to have one standard—you can't have one for [Republicans] and one for us,” said a New York congressperson who thinks he should relinquish the post.

Pelosi denies the push, but Rangel has faced widespread calls to give up the position as an ethics panel investigates three different issues: the $10,000 in back taxes he owes from renting out a vacation villa in the Dominican Republic, his rental of several New York apartments below market rate, and fundraising activities for an academic center named for him, the Washington Post reports. “Do to me what you want, I'm not talking,” Rangel said when questioned by reporters.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee Monday, Sept., 15, 2008, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee Monday, Sept., 15, 2008, on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asked by reporters about the status of Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., as House Ways and Means Chairman after a meeting Monday, Sept., 15, 2008 on Capitol Hill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asked by reporters about the status of Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., as House Ways and Means Chairman after a meeting Monday, Sept., 15, 2008 on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., takes questions from reporters regarding alleged financial improprieties, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, on Capitol Hill.
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., takes questions from reporters regarding alleged financial improprieties, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
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Nancy Pelosi • Congress • Charles Rangel • House Ways and Means Committee • political scandal • tax records

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