Supreme Court Won't Hear Rangel's Appeal To Overturn Censure

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from New York Rep. Charles Rangel seeking to overturn his 2010 censure for financial wrongdoing.

The justices on Monday let stand an appeals court ruling that said House disciplinary proceedings against the congressman fell outside the jurisdiction of the courts.

The House voted 333-79 to censure Rangel for financial and fundraising misconduct.

The 85-year-old Harlem Democrat claimed that staff and members of the House Ethics Committee conducting the probe against him suppressed evidence of misconduct in the investigation.

A federal judge ruled that courts had no authority over the House investigation. An appeals court in the District of Columbia upheld that decision, saying Rangel must seek vindication in the court of public opinion.

Among the House Ethics Committee's findings were that Rangel shortchanged the IRS for 17 years by failing to pay taxes on income from his rental unit in a Dominican Republic resort. He also filed misleading financial disclosure reports for a decade, leaving out hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets he owned.

Rangel plans to retire at the end of his current term.

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