Does a Defense Lobbying Investigation Put Charlie Rangel at Risk?

Bad news for Rep. Charles Rangel, the powerful Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee: The Washington Post obtained a copy of a House document showing that seven members of the House appropriations subcommittee in charge of military spending -- almost half of the panel's members -- are being investigated in an expanded probe focused on a once-influential lobbying firm called the PMA Group that exploited its close ties to lawmakers to win earmarks for clients.

Rangel is not one of the seven. That list includes John Murtha (D-Pa.), Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), James Moran (D-Va.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.). These committee members, according to the Post, steered more than $200 million in federal earmarks to PMA clients in the past two years; they also received millions of dollars in campaign contributions from PMA and its clients. The multimillion-dollar question is, were these earmarks and campaign donations explicitly connected? Though the members being investigated are a bipartisan group, more Democrats are involved. And that will give House Republicans fuel for their effort to brand the Dems as corrupt power brokers.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her party comrades rose to power accusing the GOPers of cultivating a culture of corruption on Capitol Hill. (See Tom DeLay -- not dancing.) Naturally, House Republicans are eager to return the favor. Recently, they have zeroed in on Rangel, who has too many ethics troubles to keep track of. But Democrats have stood by the influential Rangel, beating back GOP moves to censure him and remove his chairmanship.

Why might the Post article and this widening investigation of ties between lawmakers and lobbyists -- neither of which relate to Rangel -- matter for him? Though the probe has not yet found any of these House members guilty of wrongdoing, this episode will place pressure on Pelosi and her colleagues to show they're not a party of sleaze. Consequently, Rangel is more vulnerable to the Republican's campaign against him. If the PMA investigation heats up, he would make a great sacrificial lamb. And if the GOP continues to pursue Rangel, his party, burdened by this other ethics investigation, will have a tougher time protecting him.

There's no telling where the ethics investigation will lead. But the PMA 7 are not the only ones at risk.

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