Charlie Rangel Sues Boehner for Ethics Censure

Says key memo was withheld in 2010 case
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2013 10:24 AM CDT
Charlie Rangel Sues Boehner for Ethics Censure
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2010 file photo, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., speaks to the media after he was censured by the House, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressman Rangel said Tuesday, March 20, 2012, he'll run for a 22nd term despite his conviction in 2010 on House ethics charges.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

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.)

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