Rangel seeks last-minute plea deal to avoid ethics trial

WASHINGTON - Former committee chairman Rep. Charles Rangel attempted a last-minute plea deal yesterday to head off a House ethics trial that could embarrass him and damage Democrats facing potentially severe election losses.

The talks between Rangel's lawyer and the House ethics committee's nonpartisan attorneys were confirmed by ethics Chairman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). She said she is not involved in the talks, adding that the committee's lawmakers have always accepted the professional staff's recommendations in previous plea bargains.

Rangel (D-Harlem), the former Ways and Means Committee chairman, would have to admit to multiple, substantial ethics violations unless ethics lawyers dramatically changed their negotiating stance.

Earlier negotiations broke down when Rangel would admit only to some allegations - not enough to satisfy the ethics committee lawyers, according to people familiar with those talks who were not authorized to be quoted by name.

Rangel, a 40-year House veteran who is 80 years old, stepped down from his chairmanship in March when the ethics committee found he should have known that corporations financed two trips to Caribbean conferences. While chairman, Rangel was a major force in stimulus bills, health care reform and trade and tax legislation. He is tied for fourth in seniority in the 435-member House.

If the negotiations are not successful, trial proceedings for the Harlem congressman would begin Thursday with a public reading of alleged ethics violations that are still confidential.

A subcommittee of four Democrats and four Republicans, led by Lofgren, would then conduct the actual trial later and decide whether the charges are proved by clear and convincing evidence.

The trial committee would be made up of lawmakers who were not part of the investigative panel that charged Rangel with multiple violations connected to his fundraising, financial disclosure and failure to pay taxes on income from a resort unit. The trial committee can decide whether to conduct some of its proceedings in public.

If there is a plea bargain or a finding that the evidence supports the charges, the ethics committee would make a decision on punishment that could range from a critical report, to a censure by the House or an expulsion vote.