Eight members of the House Ethics Committee have packed it in for the night after meeting in executive session to discuss the alleged ethics violations against Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
They will reconvene in executive session Tuesday morning, committee spokesman Sam Harvey told TPM. Harvey did not know whether the committee planned to meet at length again or simply issue a statement with their decision.
Just after 5 p.m. Monday, members of the committee filed out of a private hearing room adjacent to main hearing room without taking questions from reporters.
Members of the committee already found that no material fact was in dispute in the allegations against Rangel.
After a high-profile appearance before the committee sans lawyer on Monday morning, Rangel walked out of the rare hearing and retreated back to his office (but not before telling reporters that the process was unfair).
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Not A Care In The World? Charlie Rangel’s Birthday Celebration]
Rangel later issued a statement once again calling the process unfair.
The longtime New York congressman, who was re-elected with over 80 percent of the vote a couple weeks ago, faces 13 charges related to raising money for an educational center using Congressional letterhead, filing inaccurate tax returns and financial disclosures and using a rent-controlled apartment as a campaign office. The investigation has been going on for two years and Rangel is said to have racked up $2 million in legal bills.
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