Charlie Rangel and Ben Chandler

We've all been hearing a lot lately about Charlie Rangel's tax issues.  Now it looks like he might be attempting to buy some leniency with the House ethics committee.

Is Charlie Rangel worried that the House Ethics Committee — notorious for handing out little more than a slap on the wrist for even the most egregious congressional misconduct — might make an exception in his case?

Maybe that’s why the embattled Harlem Democrat has been playing Santa Claus with his House colleagues, doling out more campaign cash from his own re-election kitty than almost any other member of Congress.

Among the 119 lucky recipients: three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee.

Already, one of the recipients has returned the money.

One member of the panel, Peter Welch of Vermont, wisely decided to return his $20,000 gift from Rangel, citing the need for “an abundance of caution.”

But look at who is one of the recipients.

But the other two — Ben Chandler of Kentucky and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina — are holding on to Rangel’s largesse, claiming it in no way interferes with their ability to sit in judgment on their benefactor.

Wonder what Chandler's district thinks about this?  How could getting campaign cash NOT influence votes on the ethics committee?  The Democrat at the top, President Obama, mentions that he's trying to get the influence of lobbyists out of Washington.  Isn't part of the lobbyist influence the money they can provide?  Doesn't that same monetary influence work here as well?

(HT: Greg Reynolds at Instapundit)

-Colonel Steve