According to both the New York Times and the New York Post, Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel sporadically reported income and a mortgage on property that he owns in the Dominican Republic. Since purchasing the property in 1988, Rangel reported varying accounts of his property personal financial disclosures and failed to report any income on his state and federal tax returns. It is unclear as to whether he has run directly afoul of any law at the moment, but, yet again, here is another instance where the ambiguity in reporting on personal financial disclosures is in full display.

The New York Post ran up this handy graphic on the variations in disclosure reported by Rangel over the years:

What appears most suspect here are the repeated trips to his vacation home paid for by outside groups, including American Airlines and a three-day, all expenses paid trip by the Dominican/American Roundtable. Does a congressman really need private entities seeking legislative influence to pay the airfare for trips to his vacation home?

After numerous reports on disclosure failures and inappropriate fundraising practices, this doesn’t bode well for Rep. Rangel. Clearly he is having a bad year, and the digging by journalists will only continue.

Charles Rangel’s Personal Financial Disclosures (back to 1995) are available at Open Secrets.

Also, to see Charles Rangel’s growth in wealth from 1995 to 2006 go to Fortune 535.

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It’s been a bad two weeks for Ways and Means Committee chairman Charlie Rangel. Last week, the Washington Post and the New York Times broke successive stories revealing the congressman’s below market value apartment rentals and his use of congressional letterhead to solicit contributions from corporations for the construction of the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. While the apartment deals are causing a stir in Rangel’s Harlem congressional district, his clear violation of House rules in using congressional letterhead for fund raising appeals are getting the most attention.

Presidents, senators, congressmen, and governors often receive honorary centers at local universities and colleges after they have retired from office, so the future existence of a Charles Rangel Center is not an out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected occurrence for the second African-American congressman from Harlem. The use of earmarking, the clear violation of House rules in his fund raising appeals, and the conflicts of interest in the operation of his committee mark this Center in the pantheon of congressional monuments to vanity. (more…)

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