Ex-Rep.: Rangel made ‘honest mistake’

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) should not be forced to give up his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee because of "an honest mistake" on his financial disclosure forms and income tax returns, former Rep. Sam Gibbons (D-Fla.) said Thursday. 

Gibbons, who served briefly as chairman in 1994 after then-Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) stepped down when he was indicted on corruption charges stemming from the House post office scandal, said, "I've known Charlie since he came to Congress and I never thought he was a dishonest person."

{mosads}Gibbons, who represented his Tampa district for 34 years until retiring in 1997, and served with Rangel on Ways and Means for 18 years, added, "One of the first things you look at in your colleagues is whether you're dealing with an honest person. I sized Charlie up real early, and I always found him to be fair and honest."

The 88-year-old Gibbons called Rangel's failure to file accurate financial disclosure forms and income tax returns relating to properties he owned or rented in his Harlem district and the Dominican Republic "a mistake, but an honest mistake. There are more crazy real estate deals out there and it looks like he's in one of them. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

Ironically, Gibbons was a central figure in the House investigation that forced then-Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-N.Y.) to step down in 1969 as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee because of corruption allegations, which led to his defeat by Rangel in the Democratic primary the following year.

"I was the one who provided most of the evidence against Powell," said Gibbons, then a member of the House Administration Committee. "He was pocketing money left and right."

Gibbons, now retired and living in the Tampa area, was greeted by many lawmakers, including Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), while having lunch in the members' dining room on Wednesday. Like Rangel, he is a decorated Army combat veteran, having parachuted into Normandy the night before the 1944 D-Day invasion and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Rangel won a Bronze
Star in the Korean War.