Democrat Charles Rangel says he will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee even though the ethics committee found that he violated House rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean.

Rangel said Friday that the ethics report “exonerates” him because it says there is no evidence that he knew the trips were sponsored by corporations. The report said his staff knew who paid for the trips.

Rangel of New York said he truly doesn’t understand why the committee admonished him.

via Rangel says report ‘exonerates’ him, will stay on.

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The ethics committee’s decision on Rangel’s trips resolves just a small part of the ethical controversy in which he’s caught up. The ethics committee is still investigating a variety of issues related to Rangel’s personal finances, including his use of a rent-stabilized apartment, his fundraising on behalf of a research institute bearing his name, and his failure to declare hundreds of thousands of dollars on income and assets on annual financial-disclosure reports.

via Charlie Rangel ruling puts Nancy Pelosi in a jam – John Bresnahan – POLITICO.com.

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