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Ethics panel expands Rangel investigation

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., seen in New York, Aug. 6, 2009. UPI Photo/Laura Cavanaugh
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., seen in New York, Aug. 6, 2009. UPI Photo/Laura Cavanaugh | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The House Ethics Committee is expanding its investigation into questionable financial dealings by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the panel said Thursday.

House Democrats Wednesday defeated a Republican attempt to remove Rangel from his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. The expanded investigation includes studying amendments Rangel made to his House financial disclosure statements in August, The New York Times reported.

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The amendments indicated Rangel did not report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets from 2002 through 2006.

The Ethics Committee announcement included a list of 34 witnesses the committee interviewed and 150 subpoenas it issued.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, called for Rangel's removal as chairman of his committee.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., should "insist that Chairman Rangel step aside until the ethics committee completes its work," Boehner said. "What more has to happen before Speaker Pelosi does the right thing?"

Rangel's lawyers said the errors were the result of sloppy bookkeeping and that the Congressman is working to correct any problems, the Times reported.

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