A solution for Charlie Rangel’s “trauma”

Awww:

After sounding defiant in his first round with reporters just now, embattled Rep. Charles Rangel sounded sad and seemed downcast and somewhat gaslit as he talked about how “traumatic” he had found the experience.

Asked about sounding confident in advance of Thursday’s hearing, Rangel replied quietly, “I’m not. This is a very traumatic experience for me and for my family and my constituents. I can only hope that … all the facts come out before my primary election, before my general election.”

He added, “At least we’ll know where we’re going, but it’s painful to have to say ‘no comment’ when people are attacking the very reason that you exist.”

He also said something earlier, unprompted, that caught reporters who came to his event in Harlem by surprise — that there are “more alleged violations” that were looked at, apparently beyond what’s been reported that House ethics probers have reviewed.

Rangel told the crowd, which included a group of constituents and students, that he had been asking for two years for House ethics investigators to look into his lack of reported rental income from a Dominican Republic condo, a donor letter for a CUNY center in his name that he wrote on congressional letterhead and his possession of four rent-stabilized apartments.

Well, Rep. Rangel, you could always take a much-needed vacation. After all, these ethics violation investigations (more here) are going to hurt you so bad that, as ST reader and Rangel constituent Leslie has observed, you’ll only get 75% of the vote in your district instead of the 87% you usually do. Man, that’s rough.

Rangel naps at his 'tax-free' Dominican Republic hideaway. Photo via Splash News/Daily Beast

Update: Don Surber has a Rangel parody. Hilarious.