 GOP wants Waters, Rangel on trial before midterm election 
 
 By Susan Crabtree - 
 
 Republicans on the House ethics committee are calling on Democrats to schedule the public trials of charges against Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) before the November elections. Text Size - 
 
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 “It is in the best interests of the transparency and fairness to the American people, Representatives Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters, and other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, that the House Ethics Committee stop stalling the resolution of the Rangel and Waters matters and complete those public trials prior to the November elections,” the Republican members of the normally secretive panel declared in their statement. Bonner and the Republican blamed Lofgren for the delays in moving forward with the proceedings, saying she alone has the authority under ethics committee rules to set a trial date for the Rangel and Waters cases. Bonner blasted Hoyer for inaccurately saying that the scheduling of the trials is “up to Jo Bonner, and Zoe Lofgren, the Democrat.” 
 
 Hoyer also called for the trials to “be resolved as quickly as possible” and attributed the unwillingness of the committee to set trial dates prior to the November election to “their own scheduling problems.” 
 
 Bonner pointed to committee rules allowing adjudicatory subcommittees to meet “at the discretion of the chair.” 
 
 “After months of trial preparation — and, in the Rangel matter, two years of investigation — Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren should have already issued notices of public trial schedules in both the Rangel and Waters matters,” Bonner said in the statement.
– The ethics troubles of Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel have led to what both the Hill and Politico call a rare bit of public infighting on the House ethics panel. The Republicans on the panel demanded today that Democrats schedule separate trials for the two Democrats before the November elections. Anything else is just stalling to avoid negative headlines, said ranking GOP member Jo Bonner. “After months of trial preparation—and, in the Rangel matter, two years of investigation—Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren should have already issued notices of public trial schedules in both the Rangel and Waters matters,” said Bonner. Congressional ethics committees general work in bipartisan secrecy to settle such things. Both Waters (earlier stories here) and Rangel (earlier stories here) have fiercely denied any wrongdoing.