Veteran congressman walks out of ethics trial

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Charles Rangel, a former chief tax writer first elected to Congress 40 years ago, walked out of his ethics trial on Monday, saying he needed more time to muster the money to hire a new lawyer.

With Rangel gone, an eight-member congressional ethics panel heard from its chief counsel and then began deliberating behind closed doors on 13 charges against the once powerful Democratic lawmaker from New York.

The House of Representatives Ethics Committee -- four Democrats and four Republicans -- has charged Rangel with ethics violations including omitting information on financial disclosure forms, using a rent-stabilized apartment for his campaign committee, and failure to report income from renting out his villa in the Dominican Republic.

Before walking out, Rangel told his colleagues that his previous lawyer no longer represents him and that he does not have the money to hire one after having rung up $2 million in legal bills in the past two years.

"I object to the proceeding," Rangel said. "I don't have counsel."

The case took center stage as lawmakers returned to work after November 2 elections that saw Republicans win control of the House from President Barack Obama's Democrats.

Another prominent House Democrat, Maxine Waters of California, is scheduled to go on trial before a House ethics panel on November 29. Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, is charged with improperly helping a bank where her husband has an investment.

In refusing to postpone Rangel's trial, Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat, noted he had sought and received committee guidance on how he may pay his legal bills.

If convicted of any of the counts, Rangel would likely face a vote by the full House denouncing his actions, but remain in office. He won re-election this month to a 21st term with 80 percent of the vote.

Blake Chisam, chief counsel for the ethics committee, told the eight-member subcommittee -- sitting as a jury -- that he saw "no evidence of corruption" but that there was uncontested evidence that Rangel violated 13 House rules.

"I believe that the congressman, quite frankly, was over- zealous in many of the things that he did and at least sloppy in his personal finances," Chisam aid.

Rangel resigned in March as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee after being admonished in a separate case for corporate-sponsored trips in 2007 and 2008 to the Caribbean in violation of House gift rules.

Before giving up the gavel, Rangel helped draft Obama's overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system.

(Editing by Eric Beech and Bill Trott)