Rep. Rangel Sets Up Defense Fund to Pay Legal Fees: Report

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) set up a defense fund to help pay the mountain of legal bills from his unsuccessful effort to beat congressional ethics charges, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The representative for Harlem -- who was punished with a humiliating House censure -- was asking supporters to pitch in up to $5,000 a year to the Charles B. Rangel Legal Expense Trust. He also could use the defense fund to bankroll the DC lawyer he hired, Bill Oldaker, to fend off his latest legal problem.

The Federal Elections Commission [FEC] was investigating a complaint that Rangel improperly used his National Leadership PAC to pay his attorneys in the ethics case. The FEC was acting on a complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center filed after Rangel paid almost $400,000 from his PAC.