Rangel Used Campaign Money to Pay Parking Fines

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) used campaign funds to pay for $1,450 in parking fines, and his office said there’s “nothing unethical” about it, reports CQ Politics.

Rangel used money from his campaign committee and his political action committee to pay the parking tickets, collected while driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser in Washington. A Rangel spokesman told the the New York Daily News that members of Congress routinely use campaign donations to pay off parking violations.

Rangel faces a House ethics investigation looking into his failure to pay taxes on real estate he owns in the Dominican Republic. The probe will also look at accusations that he improperly used a rent-controlled apartment as an office and that he used his position to help raise money for an educational center in his name. Rangel has said that he hasn’t done anything intentionally wrong.