Rangel: Questions 'rude,' Pelosi worried?

by Mark Silva

House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel would rather talk about trade and health-care than the ethical breaches of which he is accused.

"Mr. Rangel's pattern of conduct is what's so troubling here,'' Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, tells NBC News. "It's not just one violation. It's a pattern of violations. And at the very least, it looks like he's arrogant and doesn't believe the rules apply to him.''

While Republicans call for Rangel, a 20-term, powerful New York Democrat, to step down as chairman while the Ethics Committee investigates, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is standing by the chairman for now.

"But there is some nervousness among House Democrats who worry about how all this may play with the public,'' NBC's Lisa Myers reports.

See how Rangel handles questions above, and read it below:

From the NBC Nightly News, last night:

NBC NEWS ANCHOR ANN CURRY: Storm clouds of a different kind are gathering over one of the most colorful and powerful members of Congress, New York's Charlie Rangel, whose long-running ethics problems keep getting worse. NBC's senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers reports now.

NBC SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT LISA MYERS: Under an ethical cloud for more than a year now, Charles Rangel was in no mood to answer questions about that when NBC News caught up with him late yesterday afternoon.

REPORTER: Any plan to step aside while the ethics panel investigates you?

HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS CHAIRMAN CHARLIE RANGEL: I thought we were here to talk about trade and health. Obviously you were not informed on that.

MYERS: The powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee recently revised six years of financial disclosure statements, revealing more than $600,000 dollars in previously unreported assets, and tens of thousands of dollars in unreported income. Among the holdings Rangel failed to report, an investment account and a checking account, each worth at least $250,000. Rangel also has admitted that he failed to report and pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income on this villa in the Dominican Republic.

REPORTER: How exactly did you forget to file the...

RANGEL: You shouldn't be...

REPORTER: ...that on your taxes?

RANGEL: You shouldn't be that way. You know that? You really shouldn't. I know it's your job, and I don't blame you, but it's really so rude.

MYERS: In the past, Rangel has blamed his problems on sloppiness and said he did nothing wrong.

CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MELANIE SLOAN: Mr. Rangel's pattern of conduct is what's so troubling here. It's not just one violation; it's a pattern of violations. And at the very least, it looks like he's arrogant and doesn't believe the rules apply to him.

MYERS: Republicans are demanding that Rangel be removed as chairman until the ethics investigation is complete.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER JOHN BOEHNER (R-OHIO) : Mr. Rangel is the chairman of the tax writing committee in Washington, DC, and yet he didn't pay his taxes.

MYERS: So far House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sticking with Rangel, but there is some nervousness among House Democrats who worry about how all this may play with the public. Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington.