Welch gives back Rangel contributions

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Welch should go further and recuse himself from the Rangel investigation entirely.

“That’s definitely a problem,” Sloan said. “If you have taken money from the guy, you shouldn’t be judging him. Even if you are objective, there’s a real appearance problem.”

Still seeking to answer the question "Who's going after Charlie Rangel," I found this Washington Post article whose coverage agrees well with most of my carefully-assembled timeline. Glad to see someone's on the story, even if I think they stop before asking the most important question.

From the article (and to fill in those who haven't been following the story):

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), 78, addressing two visitors in his office near the House chamber, says he won't cave in to Republicans and other critics who demand that he step aside as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee until the ethics cloud surrounding him clears.

From The Hill (Thursday):

Democrats shot down a second GOP attempt in as many months to punish Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) for a series of alleged ethics violations.

Democrats easily tabled a motion House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered that was aimed at forcing Rangel to give up his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee while the ethics committee investigates the charges. It also would have ordered the ethics committee to establish an investigative subcommittee to look into the matter. The motion went down, 226-176, with only the five Democrats on the ethics panel voting “present” and eight Democrats not voting.