I didn’t have to wait long for an answer to my question. The Hill reports that U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st, says he won’t return $3,000 in campaign donations from Charlie Rangel:
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) has no plans to give up the $3,000 in donations he took from embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) even though he sits on the jury considering evidence that the former Ways and Means Committee chairman broke ethics rules.
Butterfield is one of a bipartisan group of eight members on the ethics committee who will weigh the allegations against Rangel.
SNIP
In an e-mail, Butterfield spokesman Ken Willis said the former judge and member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) ?has no plans to return the donations.?
Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said she usually is not a fan of returning donations from members who find themselves in hot water. In this case, however, she thinks Butterfield should give back the money or donate it to charity.
?We would never have someone on a regular jury who has received money from a defendant,? she said.
Butterfield will sit in judgment of both Rangel and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who is likewise opting for a public trial to fight an ethics charge leveled against her. Butterfield was appointed to adjudicatory committees that will weigh the evidence against both lawmakers.
Butterfield has not received campaign contributions from Waters over the last three election cycles, according to Federal Elections Commission reports.
