Nancy Pelosi Stands By 'Admonished' Rep. Charlie Rangel

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) today when she was asked if he should resign as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in light of the House ethics committee's admonishment of the congressman.

"No," she said. "They did not take action against him. They just said he did not willfully break the rules."

The ethics committee issued a report Friday finding that members of Rangel's staff knew that several trips the congressman took to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008 were indirectly funded by private corporations, which is against House rules. The committee added that there is no evidence that Rangel himself knew who paid for the trips, but the committee formally admonished him and his staff nonetheless.

More worrisome for the congressman is a much larger investigation by the committee, which Pelosi referenced Friday, looking into whether he failed to pay the required taxes on a property in the Dominican Republic. Although some people could become confused about tax liabilities of rental properties, Rangel's Ways and Means Committee has the responsibility for passing all tax laws in the country.

The speaker said that this will not be the last we hear from the ethics committee regarding the congressman.

"Obviously, they have other issues to deal with," she said. "But I thank them for taking this action. I hope that they will have other action soon."

When a reporter asked what the Rangel allegations say about her 2006 promise to have "the most ethical and honest Congress in history," she interjected, "And we are."