By DAPHNE RETTER
Posted: 3:46 am
July 24, 2008
WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles Rangel asked House investigators yesterday to determine whether he broke the rules when he sent letters on congressional stationery to business leaders about an educational center named after him, and admitted that he hoped those letters would win donations for his pet project.
"Was it my hope that these meetings would result in making . . . donations to this important project with such an important public purpose? Of course," Rangel wrote in a letter to the House Ethics Committee yesterday.
Rangel made good on his promise to ask the House investigators to determine whether he broke the rules when he helped raise money for the Charles B. Rangel Center, but he included with it a fervent defense of his actions.
He has been under fire since The Washington Post uncovered letters he wrote on congressional stationery.
House rules ban the use of official letterheads to seek funds for organizations, but Rangel contends his avoidance of a specific request for money would keep him out of trouble.
