NY Representative Charles Rangel. Guilty for breaking rules of the House by Milota Sidorova

If you ask anyone about the check and the transparency of politicians the answers will be probably negative or ironic. This social class is still standing on some kind of platform, enjoying the aura of untouchable. To put it straight – politician are not trusted if it comes to ethic, tax paperwork and annual income disclosures. And it certainly is a peak of the ice when speaking of Rep. Charles Rangel, 80 yrs Democratic Senator who has been pleaded guilty for breaking House rules. Rangel who is the oldest senior member of the party has been facing a series of allegations of ethics violations for more than two and half years. Back in 2008 he was accused for accepting t! ravels in the Caribbean, covered by corporations – the jury found him guilty and required to pay back all those expenses. Rangel was however accused from more serious actions – listing annual tax disclosures, using more residences (appartments) in New York while he was living in Washinghton DC and used this residence as a tax adress. He was also accused from raising money for a public policy institute in his name and not disclosing rental incomes from a real-estate property in the Dominican Republic. Rangel has been leaving some of his positions gradually, for instance Ways and Means and faced final jury last days. He was pleaded guilty of 11 from 13 counts and he is probably going to lose some of his House privileges and will be fined. Rangel opposed that he didn't have proper defence, since his team left him after he failed to pay another $1 million to them. Rangel was defending himself on his own, but it brought no success. So far media didn't report what kin! d of consequences would fall upon his head. Well, one's sure, ! Rangel i s neither the first one, not the last one, but anytime such shame falls upon a head of such powerful person, it is a good sign for the society. However, playing a martyr and the lamb of God can be tricky...

related story (sgx18619): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rangel_ethics_trial;_ylt=AmadW...

by Milota Sidorova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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