Democratic Representative Congressman found guilty

Democratic Representative Congressman Charles Rangel of New York was found guilty on 11 counts of breaking house rules by an eight member House ethics committee .He has been accused of 13 counts of engaging in financial and fundraising misconduct.  Appropriate punishment following a hearing will be recommended by the panel to the House of Representatives
A decision was reached by the panel after a second day of closed door discussions but the eighty year old Congressman Rangal who has served 40 years in Congress and was a former committee chairman was not present when the verdict was announced. He had previously walked out of proceedings on Monday in protest when the panel refused to postpone the hearing until he found a new lawyer. Mr. Rangel’s conduct has the committee considering possible punishment options that might include a fine and denial of privileges.
Inaccurate reports of income to Congress and assets of at least $600,000 Mr. Rangel failed to disclose were found by the group .They also found that Mr. Rangel used House Of Representatives headed paper and congressional staff to solicit money for a New York college center named in his honor .A conclusion could not be made as to weather Mr. Rangel had inappropriately accepted gifts .Other charges found him guilty of improperly using a rent controlled residential apartment as a campaign office and he failed to report rental income to the Internal Revenue Service from letting out a house in Dominican Republic.