It seems that troubled Charles Rangel isn’t going to step down over ethics charges--a move that has enraged many Democratic colleagues. According to reports, Rangel was reportedly trying to find a way to confess his wrong doings, without saying that it was deliberate. "If he were to be cleared, then it might have been possible, even in a lame duck session after the elections, to get it back," nydailynews quoted a source as saying.
The first thing in his mind is telling the world that he did not avoid paying tax or conceal details of his assets of trade legislative favors for donations to City College's planned Rangel Cente deliberately, the source said. But efforts to prove his sanity have suffered several setbacks in recent days. "It took him a while to realize that this [battle] was about remaining a member [of Congress]," said a House Democratic leadership source, "[and] to accept that he won't be the chairman again."
Meanwhile, Rangel's friends say that the Democrat doesn't want his decade- long carrier to end on a low note. And that's why he is avoiding confessing that he deliberately breached White House rules. However, Rangel is under immense pressure from his party, which want to show off that its members are highly ethical and follow a zero-tolerance policy on cases of ethical lapses.
Sources further said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Rangel's side but he wants the latter to plead guilty. Pelosi's righthand man, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), sounded less patient, frostily telling reporters, "Mr. Rangel needs to do what he thinks is best." A GOP source said that if there is a deal to avoid a trial "our guys [on the committee] are going to drive a hard bargain. They've lost patience. They're digging in their heels."
