The man who has led the Republican charge against the House Ways and Means chairman over the accuracy of the powerful lawmaker's personal financial disclosures has acknowledged errors on his own disclosures.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has been the target of an ongoing ethics investigation over errors on his financial disclosure forms. Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) has said that allowing Rangel to remain as chairman of the Ways and Means committee is "the same as allowing a confessed bank robber to serve as chairman of the Banking Committee." Carter has attacked Rangel for leaving information about income and hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets out of his financial disclosures - information that, when it was brought to light, resulted in the New York congressman having to pay nearly $10,000 in back taxes.
Now, according to Roll Call, Carter has acknowledged errors of omission in his own financial disclosures. The omissions relate to his ownership of at least $1 million in Exxon Mobil Corp. stock. Carter's disclosures reveal the ownership of the stock and a partial sale of the assets in 2006 and 2007. But his filings fail to mention his profits, as required.
Last year, Roll Call discovered many such incomplete disclosures by members of Congress, including Carter. But due to Carter's greater public prominence over Rangel's disclosures, Roll Call pressed Carter's office on why he had not amended his inaccurate returns. After earlier denials, Carter's office issued a statement saying the lawmaker would correct his filings.
You can see Rep. Carter's financial disclosures here. We will make his amended disclosures available online when he files them.
