GOP Wants Rangel, Waters Trials Before Midterms

The ethics troubles of Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel have led to what both the Hill and Politico call a rare bit of public infighting on the House ethics panel. The Republicans on the panel demanded today that Democrats schedule separate trials for the two Democrats before the November elections. Anything else is just stalling to avoid negative headlines, said ranking GOP member Jo Bonner.

“After months of trial preparation—and, in the Rangel matter, two years of investigation—Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren should have already issued notices of public trial schedules in both the Rangel and Waters matters,” said Bonner. Congressional ethics committees general work in bipartisan secrecy to settle such things. Both Waters (earlier stories here) and Rangel (earlier stories here) have fiercely denied any wrongdoing. (More House Ethics Committee stories.)