Sep 10, 2008 7:43 pm US/Eastern
Rangel Admits Mistakes, $5K Bill To Uncle Sam
House Speaker Pelosi Spokesperson Tells CBS 2 HD NYC Congressman Will Not Be Stripped Of Ways & Means Post
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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U.S. Representative Charles Rangel, D-Harlem, could very well be removed from his powerful position as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
AP
Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel is under fire after disclosing he owes almost $11,000 in back taxes.
For the third time in two months Rangel asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate his actions.
He may write the tax code, but Rep. Rangel admitted Wednesday that he ran afoul of the IRS when he didn't accurately report income from a beach side vacation villa that he owns in the Dominican Republic.
"I wanted to make it clear that even though it's true my committee deals with trillions of dollars of taxes over the years that I do not take the $5,000 lightly," Rangel said.
Actually, Rangel will owe more than just $5,000. That's only the IRS portion. He also owes $6,000 to New York City and New York State, plus penalties. Rangel insisted he didn't intentionally file taxes incorrectly.
"The fact that I'm going to make certain that the reports are accurate and filed does not mean in any way that I belittle the actually inaccuracies that are there," Rangel said.
Rangel did belittle the New York Post for printing pictures of him relaxing in Punta Cana during a four-day vacation. Rangel didn't find the pictures flattering.
"My wife looked at the pictures and she said, 'You know what? You're fat.' I hope some of you will notice I have lost 10 or 15 pounds because of that picture."
The congressman asked the House Ethics Committee to probe the Punta Cana transaction, just as he has asked for investigations of two other issues that have come up in recent months. On Wednesday he spent time explaining why, when he already had two rent-stabilized apartments combined into one in a Harlem building, he jumped when his wife said they could add a studio next door.
"I told her it would be ideal for me," Rangel said. "She didn't want my political friends in the living room. She didn't want any poker games. My friends have joked that you don't have a hideaway next right next door where you live, but I can tell you that there's not a day I'm in New York that I'm not able to go there to have my meetings with friends. They can smoke there. They can cuss. I can listen to music. I can read what I want, and it's saved a lot of fussing in the house since I'm able to slam the door, walk out and go next door."
Despite Republican calls for Rangel to be stripped of his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CBS 2 HD it is not going to happen.
And Rangel said a tax mistake shouldn't cost him his job or his career.
In a phone interview from Washington, Rangel told CBS 2 HD there were no more skeleton's in his closet.
Though, he said, "I'm 78. I can't tell you what happened when I was 18."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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