Court rejects Rangel's bid to overturn censure

By Sam Hananel
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court says congressman Charles Rangel can’t legally challenge his 2010 censure for financial wrongdoing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last Friday that House disciplinary proceedings fall outside the jurisdiction of the courts. A federal district judge had thrown the case out in 2013.

The 84-year-old New York Democrat claimed that staff and members of the House Ethics Committee conducting the probe against him suppressed evidence of misconduct in the investigation.

The House censured Rangel for actions including failure to pay taxes, filing misleading financial statements and improperly seeking money from corporate interests.

The appeals court said Rangel must vindicate his reputation “in the one court that can hear his claim: the court of public opinion.”