FEC fines Charlie Rangel $23K for apartment misuse

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Politico:

Rep. Charlie Rangel has agreed to pay a $23,000 civil fine for effectively taking campaign contributions in the form of a rent-regulated apartment turned campaign office, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

An FEC letter dated Friday says that Rangel, a 21-term New York Democrat, accepted “excessive in-kind contributions” in the form of leasing a rent-stabilized Harlem apartment at a price below market rate from the property owner.

Four years ago, Rangel faced scrutiny over living in three neighboring rent-stabilized apartments on the 16th floor of a luxury building in Harlem. But the new FEC findings were instead related to a one-bedroom apartment on the 10th floor of the same building that he used as a campaign office for two of his political committees without reporting the discounted rent as a contribution.

The unit’s lease also required him to use it “for living purposes only,” according to the documents, released by the National Legal and Policy Center Tuesday, which filed the original complaint against Rangel to the FEC.

According to an analysis by The New York Times, Rangel paid $630 per month for the 10th floor apartment-turned-campaign office, while the market-rate for similar units in the building rented for $1,700 a month or higher.

In an e-mail to POLITICO Tuesday, Rangel spokeswoman Hannah Kim said simply, “People settle not because they’re guilty but because they don’t want to go through the arduous process and expense to show they’re not guilty.”

________

 

Sorry, Charlie-you're guilty.

[SrWoodchuck]

“People settle not because they’re guilty but because they don’t want to go through the arduous process and expense to show they’re not guilty.”

 

Laugh riot material.

[raygun]