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Rangel Saved Loophole that Aided $1M Donor
Oil-drilling company helped finance NY rep's legacy project
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Nov 25, 08 11:27 AM CST
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(Newser)
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As questions swirl over the methods Charles Rangel used to raise funds for a school in his name, a New York Times investigation finds that the New York representative and chair of the House Ways and Means committee fought to save a tax loophole that benefited one of the school's donors. The loophole enabled Nabors Industries, an oil-drilling firm whose CEO pledged $1 million to the project, to maintain an offshore tax shelter.
Rangel, who is facing a House ethics committee probe, said he helped keep the loophole open as a longtime opponent of retroactive tax increases. Nabors' CEO Eugene Isenberg said, “There was no quid pro quo” and that he had donated for the sake of the public policy school at New York’s City College. But others in Congress said Rangel’s actions came as a surprise: In the past, he had slammed firms for offshore moves.