Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News aired a full report by correspondent Lisa Myers on the ongoing investigation into Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel’s failure to report income over several years to the IRS. Myers detailed some of the numbers:
The powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee recently revised six years of financial disclosure statements, revealing more than $600,000 in previously unreported assets and tens of thousands of dollars in unreported income. Among the holdings Rangel failed to report, an investment account and a checking account, each worth at least $250,000. Rangel also has admitted that he failed to report and pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income on this villa in the Dominican Republic.
At the end of her report -- after a clip of Rangel reacting dismissively toward a reporter who asked him about the matter, and a clip of government ethics watchdog Melanie Sloan complaining about his "pattern of conduct" – Myers hinted at Rangel's Democratic party affiliation as she informed viewers that "Republicans are demanding that Rangel be removed as chairman until the ethics investigation is complete," before noting that "So far, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sticking with Rangel, but there is some nervousness among House Democrats, who worry about how all this may play with the public."
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the Wednesday, October 14, NBC Nightly News:
ANN CURRY: Storm clouds of a different kind are gathering over one of the most colorful and powerful members of Congress, New York's Charlie Rangel, whose long-running ethics problems keep getting worse. NBC's senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers reports now.
LISA MYERS: Under an ethical cloud for more than a year now, Charles Rangel was in no mood to answer questions about that when NBC News caught up with him late yesterday afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN OFF CAMERA HOLDING MICROPHONE: Any plan to step aside while the ethics panel investigates you?
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D-NY): I thought we were here to talk about trade and health. Obviously, you were not informed on that.
MYERS: The powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee recently revised six years of financial disclosure statements, revealing more than $600,000 in previously unreported assets and tens of thousands of dollars in unreported income. Among the holdings Rangel failed to report, an investment account and a checking account, each worth at least $250,000. Rangel also has admitted that he failed to report and pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income on this villa in the Dominican Republic.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN HOLDING MICROPHONE AND WALKING ALONGSIDE RANGEL: How exactly did you forget to file the, that on your taxes?
RANGEL: You shouldn't be that way. You know that? You really, I know it's your job, and I don't blame you, but it's really so rude.
MYERS: In the past, Rangel has blamed his problems on sloppiness and said he did nothing wrong.
MELANIE SLOAN, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: Mr. Rangel's pattern of conduct is what's so troubling here. It's not just one violation. It's a pattern of violations. And at the very least, it looks like he's arrogant and doesn't believe the rules apply to him.
MYERS: Republicans are demanding that Rangel be removed as chairman until the ethics investigation is complete.
JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Mr. Rangel is the chairman of the tax-writing committee in Washington, D.C., and yet, he doesn’t pay his taxes.
MYERS: So far, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sticking with Rangel, but there is some nervousness among House Democrats, who worry about how all this may play with the public. Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington.
—Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
The Bus is Coming
October 15, 2009 - 05:17 ET by Jeff in Miami BeachI guess the Obama Administration has chosen to get rid of one more crook. Chalk one more up for Fox News. Or it is because he is going after Pelosi. Either way we get rid of one more bad apple. When the MSM gets the go ahead to do their job on someone they really can chew up anyone.
If you think medical care is expensive now wait until it is free!
Bingo!
October 15, 2009 - 08:17 ET by OutInTheAStreetMissing from the coverage all around, is the explanation for why the SCM (state controlled media) has covered up for this crook for so long.
That's SCUM (State
October 15, 2009 - 09:16 ET by ForeverOnTheRightThat's SCUM (State Controlled Underbelly Media).
Wow! Poor guy....
October 15, 2009 - 05:53 ET by MidAmericaWow! Poor guy.... He's almost down to where the only trump card he has left is his skin color.
MID AMERICA...
October 15, 2009 - 07:19 ET by danybhoyThere are only 2 reasons he still has his job...
1. He's a powerfull liberal.
2. He's a powerfull black liberal.
...that is it. Everybody loves this guy away from the job. He is said to be a very fun guy to hang with. But the fact is, the man should not be in Congress considering his tax problems & his abuse of rent control apartment units in NYC. He really will be lucky if he does'nt end up with any jail time. He is really needs to go away, or be dragged away kicking & screaming.
"...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."
Nightwish
Do not be fooled! While
October 15, 2009 - 05:59 ET by gopsteveDo not be fooled!
While it is good NBC actually covered it, it's probably going to be like "well, no one can say we didn't cover it, now let's move on."
I still remember that Sandy Berger story...one freakin' day of coverage...and page A 17 in the NYT!!!
It sort of seems that way doesn't it...?
October 15, 2009 - 06:47 ET by superconThe guy is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee for crissakes. The reort does not do justice tho the giant stink mof corruption that surrounds Rangel. It was mild and ambiguous. If they were serious about giviing a real report on him they couls have talked to Pelosi or to Tim Geithner. They could have interviewed IRS employees about what would happen if you or I did that. They could have spoken to tax attorneys who handle such cases. They could have shown how other people who have done much less got the screws put to them by the IRS.
It was weak coverage to say the least. Rush Limbaugh has gotten a hundred times more coverage on his bid to buy the Rams as if somehow it was a civil rights violation for a law biding citizen to do business.
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
Agree with GOPSteve - This
October 15, 2009 - 06:53 ET by bse5150Agree with GOPSteve - This is the MSM's way of trying to show that they are fair and balanced like FoxNews but in reality they'll sweep this under the rug and start howling again about Limbaugh being a racist or something. Which is why I never watch the alphabets. Can't trust 'em.
Hey Hey Hey. Give the guy a break.
October 15, 2009 - 06:09 ET by JWFDon't you know what it is like to have so much money coming in from so many sources that you can't possibly keep track of it all?
Nah, me niether. Fire the crook.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Lisa Meyers may be one of
October 15, 2009 - 06:12 ET by JerryLisa Meyers may be one of the few true journalists left. She's the one who did the Juanita Broderick rape interview and was infuriated when her network put a lid on it until after the impeachment vote. I wonder if she pressured NBC to air this one too.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Rangel's tax problems no one's business!
October 15, 2009 - 06:12 ET by motherbeltThis video by Jason Mattera is hilarious!
Watch Rangel smile and go into his pose, until Mattera zings him with the question...
and notice that Rangel thinks that his tax problems are no one else's business!
Priceless.
Rengel: "That's rude
October 15, 2009 - 06:17 ET by JerryRengel: "That's rude missy. We just write the laws. We don't even have time to read them, and you're wanting us to obey them?"
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Whats the Big Deal?
October 15, 2009 - 06:47 ET by GeneralAlHey Lisa, whats the big deal? Liberals write the laws, they don't obey them! When your idols are Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, you emulate their behavior!
They are part of the wonderful and philanthropic governmant that watches out for and meets our every need! Its OK for them to drink champagne while we drink beer! Its OK for them to have a Cadillac health care plan while we get stuck with a Yugo! That said, its OK if they fail to pay their taxes and get a scolding from the press. We on the other hand are such low lifes, that we need to be punished for not paying our taxes on time!
Furthermore, Lisa, this is all racism! No one would care if Rangel was not black! As usual, the right wing conspirecy is trying to destroy a fine man of color!
Wow!!!
October 15, 2009 - 07:06 ET by BourbeauThat NBC Nightly News is all over that Charlie Rangel. Someone must have dropped a bundle of NY Posts on their desks this morning and they figured they had better do a little catch-up piece before he resigns. This is a despicable story that has been allowed to wallow in the bowels of the MSM; Charlie Rangel is a disgusting crook. When you see the people of Harlem, struggling day in and day out w/their lives and having to deal with the all the problems that come with the inner city, and then you see Charlie strutting w/his $1,000 suits, custom shirts and jewelry, and not giving a damn about his own fiscal house, your first inclination should be to gag. Your next inclination should be to vote the bum out. But it's Harlem, and their Democrats, and they think it's perfectly okay for one of theirs to skirt the system, just like Adam Clayton Powell - you know, the corrupt politician Charlie Rangel ran out of office because he skirted the sytem.
So what took so long?
October 15, 2009 - 07:15 ET by richb313OK so some reporter on NBC FINALLY did a story about Rangel. What took so long? It's not like they had to dig hard to find any of this stuff out. The only thing this means, as has been pointed out before, is that Good Time Charlies days are numbered. NBC HAD to get a story out there before this happened or they would have been ACORNED. NBC is just trying to salvage what is left of thier credibility and hope that no one notices that they were silent for over a year.
Why now?
October 15, 2009 - 07:49 ET by motherbeltMy guess is one of two things:
Someone decided that they just couldn't ignore the stink any longer.
Or....this is the first glimmer of an indication that Rangel's days are numbered.
They would be OK with covering for Rangel, but if they start to see signs in the tea leaves that Rangel probably can't survive this, they want to be on board with the story. So they won't do a real in-depth investigation, which might contribute to his demise, but just enough to be able to say "we were on top of this."
Out at Ways & Means-In With Checketts
October 15, 2009 - 08:08 ET by CaringwhiteguyIf Charlie continues to game the system as he has over the past several decades his fall back could be to replace Rush in the Checketts syndicate trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. He's against just about everything Rush and conservatives stand for and he's pretty much down the line in synch with Rush's critics.
It's also pretty clear he has some spare cash laying around. Maybe he's learned how to stash it from Bill Jefferson.
How about it Dave Checketts? How about it Roger Goodell?
So what?
October 15, 2009 - 08:19 ET by Red JeepRangel is black and a Democrat. He gets a "get out of anything free" card. A whole deck.
I give them a little credit
October 15, 2009 - 08:36 ET by TomoramaI give them a little credit for reporting it, but they make it appear like this is a new story and has just started to be checked out, just like Wright during the campaign, Van Jones and ACORN earlier in the year, they report on it BRIEFLY long after the steam of the pile of crap is gone and I guarantee there will be NO follow-up in the upcoming weeks.
I agree with the fellow cerebrum using folks here that they can now say "see we report on bad Democrats also".........
Make this a white male Conservative and he would have been plastered all over the media not now, but MONTHS AGO.
I get a tingly feeling up my leg knowing that the whole country is NOT f-ed up with "progressive thinkers" that can't put two and two together (we at least know that this charlatan can't add...).
A great man once said, YOU only get out of life what YOU put into it, he obviously wasn't a liberal.
He's a Democrat - leave him
October 15, 2009 - 09:25 ET by mattmHe's a Democrat - leave him alone.
Now if he were a Republican.....
i'll tell you what's going on...
October 15, 2009 - 09:32 ET by retroconIt's really simple...
The MSM have been complicit in getting the O elected and shilling for democrats for a long time.
The O has proven to be little more than a hollow, total amateur and Chi-town thug, with a pretty smile and nice voice.
If they (the MSM) don't start responding to some of the corruption by the dems, they even start to look stupid to their faithful bases.
So, someone made a decision to throw Chawlie to the wolves, probably Rahmfish himself. Not that i mind, but it's actually a way to "justify" being a "watch dog press" even against dems, allowing them to continue to keep any light of scrutiny off of Oblama, while proclaiming "see, we are watch dogs, if the Obamassiah were messing up, sure we'd report it." What did Borat say: "NOT!"
Yep, Retro
October 15, 2009 - 09:37 ET by general companyCharlie probable saw the light somewhere, and Obama decided to throw him under the bus as well. As an example, for any other Dem that wanders to far from the reservation
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
They wait until everyone knows it
October 15, 2009 - 09:32 ET by general companyBefore they stick their neck out and report it. Either that, or they wait for everyong else to do their investigating, then base their story from those reports. Either way, they deserve 0 credit, still the cowards I have thought them to be for many years.
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
What about just plain old right vs wrong!!
October 15, 2009 - 09:49 ET by JTP"there is some nervousness among House Democrats, who worry about how all this may play with the public"
Are there no morals within this party any longer?
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
Are there no morals within
October 15, 2009 - 09:57 ET by motherbeltAre there no morals within this party any longer?
Nope. Nuh-uh. Negative.
They only worry about how they might be "painted or portrayed" or how something will "play" or how Republicans might "use it."
It all comes down to "works" or "doesn't work."
Of
October 15, 2009 - 10:02 ET by jessieHOf course Pelosi is on his side, she is as corrupt as he is. While they are at it, investigate Barney Frank for his involvment with Fannie & Freddie. Then we can move on to Reid & Dodd.
Jail, Now
October 15, 2009 - 10:46 ET by slickwillie2001Rangel is a disgusting pig, and he should be in jail. If you or I cheated on taxes for as many years as Rangel has, we'd already be in jail.
Good thing Ms. Pelosi has
October 15, 2009 - 18:30 ET by deerjerkydaveGood thing Ms. Pelosi has cleaned up the culture of corruption in Washington. Otherwise this guy would just continue to serve on the Ways and Means committee during the investigation. What's that? He's still on the committee? And Democrats voted to keep him there?