The Federal Election Commission is investigating a complaint that Rep. Charles Rangel improperly used his National Leadership PAC to fund his legal defense on ethics charges for which he was censured Thursday, The Post has learned.
The FEC is acting on a complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center filed after The Post reported last month that Rangel paid nearly $400,000 from his PAC.
Lawmakers are only allowed to use money in their individual campaign funds for legal fees, or they can set up legal defense funds for such costs.
Rangel appeared before the House Ethics Committee last month saying he could no longer afford legal counsel after already burning through $2 million.
The center expects to file a second complaint this week contending that Rangel's PAC money included at least $195,000 in donations from lobbyists with business before the House Ways & Means Committee, of which he is a member.
Yesterday, the Harlem pol said he's ready to put the incident behind him.
This guy didn't take his censure seriously. He took it with defiance. This guy needs to go. If the voters in his own district aren't smart enough to realize what a crook he is, then he needs kicked out. Frog marched, preferably.
