House ethics panel: Rep. Rangel violated rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House ethics panel today found Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York guilty on 11 counts of breaking House rules.

The full ethics committee will next conduct a hearing on the appropriate punishment for the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The committee will then make a recommendation to the House.

Possible punishments include a House vote deploring Rangel’s conduct, a fine and denial of privileges.

The eight-member ethics panel had sat as a jury to judge Rangel’s conduct. The 80-year-old congressman from Harlem was charged with 13 counts of financial and fundraising wrongdoing.