Friday, December 3, 2010

Grijalva: Censure Was Too Tough on Rangel

Posted By on Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:05 PM

Congressman Raul Grijalva was one of only two Democrats in the Arizona congressional delegation to vote against censuring Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York. Rangel was facing a number of ethics charges related to his failure to pay income taxes and some fast-and-loose fundraising strategies. (You find details in The New York Times here.)

Grijalva spokesman Adam Sarvana tells The Range via email that Grijalva voted against the censure because he thought it went too far, especially compared to a similar case involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich back in the ’90s.

"Gingrich was reprimanded (not censured) when he was fined $300,000 for multiple rules infractions regarding his use of Congressional staff time and material for campaigning," Sarvana wrote. "Censure has only been handed down a few times, and then for things like affairs with interns. The Ethics Committee lawyer who investigated Rangel told the Committee he didn't believe Rangel ever intentionally profited from illegal activity, so my boss felt a reprimand was the most appropriate response."