Rangel Asks Ethics Panel For "Fairness And Mercy"

Embattled Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) asked a House ethics panel Thursday for “fairness and mercy” after being found guilty of 11 ethics violations.

Rangel said in a statement Thursday that the panel, who will deliver a recommendation on how Rangel should be reprimanded this afternoon, should consider his decades of service in Congress as well as his repeated assertion that he unknowingly made missteps.

“How can 40 witnesses, 30,000 pages of transcripts, over 550 exhibits measure against my forty years of service and commitment to this Body I love so much?” Rangel asked.