Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is suing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and six other lawmakers, charging that they mishandled the ethics investigation that led to his public censure in late 2010.
In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Washington D.C., Rangel claims the Ethics Committee that investigated his alleged wrongdoing is guilty of “numerous flagrant, knowing and intentional violations” of his due process rights.
House members who approved his censure were “knowingly deceived” by the committee leaders — including then-Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and ranking member Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) — into thinking that the probe “had been conducted in accordance with procedural rules and the protection of [Rangel’s] constitutional rights,” the complaint adds.
The other lawmakers named in the suit are Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). Conaway and Dent were also members of the Ethics Committee behind the investigation. Conaway is the current chairman of the ethics committee.
Rangel was the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in March 2010 when a series of mounting ethics charges — as well as pressure from fellow Democrats — forced him to step down. He was replaced by Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), who remains the top Democrat on the panel.
A House GOP aide was quick to dismiss the suit on Monday.
“The House overwhelmingly voted to censure then-Chairman Rangel by a bipartisan vote of 333-79,” the aide said. “It’s sad that he has resorted to such tactics in the face of damning evidence.”
Rangel’s office declined to comment, deflecting questions to the lawyers handling the case.