this is because rangel 's two - year battle with the house ethics committee exposed the woeful state of lawmakers ' abilities to police their own .
the disgraced lawmaker awaited the rebuke of his peers .
 
the freshly censured legislator even offered a suggestion for newspaper headlines : " rangel found not guilty of corruption and self dealing . "
rangel , staring back at the speaker , swallowed hard .
charlie rangel stood , stony - faced , in the well of the house .
i remember conversations with him when he was engaged in what may have been his greatest coup : helping free hillary clinton from the confines of the east wing and converting her into a successful senate candidate in new york .
after the ritual of public humiliation , the harlem democrat 's friends came with outstretched arms to console him , but rangel brushed them off , instead requesting permission to address the house .
and he loved every minute of this game - which he played for unselfish purposes , not to expand his own influence .