Is Charlie Rangel worried that the House Ethics Committee -- notorious for handing out little more than a slap on the wrist for even the most egregious congressional misconduct -- might make an exception in his case? Maybe that's why the embattled Harlem Democrat has been playing Santa Claus with his House colleagues, doling out more campaign cash from his own re-election kitty than almost any other member of Congress.
Among the 119 lucky recipients: three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee.
The same people who are meant to be probing the growing list of his financial "oversights" and deciding what, if any, punishment to mete out.
(If they ever get around to finishing their investigation, that is -- the committee allegedly has been looking into Rangel's tangled fiscal affairs for the past 12 months.)
One member of the panel, Peter Welch of Vermont, wisely decided to return his $20,000 gift from Rangel, citing the need for "an abundance of caution."
But the other two -- Ben Chandler of Kentucky and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina -- are holding on to Rangel's largesse, claiming it in no way interferes with their ability to sit in judgment on their benefactor.
So much for Speaker Nancy Pelosi's promise that this would be "the most ethical Congress ever."
Rangel, of course, faces probes on a whole host of issues, many of them first uncovered by The Post: illegally maintaining four rent-stabilized apartments; use of House stationery to solicit funds for a policy center; failure to pay property taxes; failure to report rental income, and acceptance of free Caribbean trips paid for by corporate lobbyists.
Then there's his most recent discloure filings -- which listed hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously unreported assets.
All of which makes Rangel's continued role as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee -- Congress' primary tax-writing body -- a mockery.
The Washington Post recognizes this -- the paper just called on Rangel to step down as chairman, saying he has "violated [the public] trust continually and seemingly without care."
You'd think Speaker Pelosi would realize what an embarrassment Rangel has become. But no -- she still stands by her man, insisting his chairmanship is secure.
No surprise -- with all that cash he's doling out to House Democrats, Rangel certainly knows how to win friends and influence people.