Rangel, Fossella Make 'Most Corrupt' List

By Elizabeth Benjamin, The Daily Politics: NY Daily News

September 10, 2008

Two New York House members, Reps. Charlie Rangel and Vito Fossella, have the dubious distinction of being included on the fourth annual Top 20 most corrupt members of Congress list compiled by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Rangel was chosen for the multiple scandals that have plagued him of late - from the rent stabilized apartments to the fundraising for his self-named CCNY center to the Dominican Republic villa, on which revelations continue to emerge - all of which he has sought to put to rest by calling for the House Ethics Commission to investigate.

CREW has also called for investigations, while the House Republicans, after failing an attempt to have Rangel censured, are now pushing Speaker Nancy Pelosi to take away his powerful post as Ways & Means Committee chair. (So far, she's sticking by the Harlem congressman).

Fossella, who isn't seeking re-election on Staten Island (and a sliver of Brooklyn) this fall, putting the GOP in danger of losing their sole seat in the Democrat-dominated city, was tapped for the DWI arrest to led to the revelation of his extramarital affair and out-of-wedlock child.

The congressman's DWI court date has been twice postponed.

CREW also cited "improper" taxpayer-funded trips on which Fossella conducted his affair with a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.