Rangel tapped coffers for legal fees

Charles Rangel is facing ethics issues.

NEW YORK - Representative Charles Rangel, Democrat of New York, paid more than $100,000 in campaign funds to a law firm to represent him as he continues to face ethical questions over his tax records, according to a published report.

The New York Post reported yesterday that the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee had hired the law firm through his Rangel for Congress fund.

Federal election rules prohibit elected officials from using campaign funds for personal legal expenses.

Rangel spokesman George Dalley said the representative had a "prior ruling" from the Federal Election Commission that "this is a legitimate campaign expense."

But the chairman of an ethics watchdog group was skeptical. Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, said the questions Rangel faces over his taxes appear to be personal in nature.

Several Republicans have urged Rangel's removal from the Ways and Means Committee because of questions about his personal finances, including unreported income on a vacation home in the Dominican Republic that has led to his owing an estimated $5,000 in back taxes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS