Another breaking developmental. Now, it appears Rangel will stand trial:

The House ethics committee laid out 13 charges of House rules violations against Representative Charles B. Rangel on Thursday, and began the process for a rare public trial on the charges.

The move came after Mr. Rangel, a veteran congressman, failed to reach a settlement to avoid the rare and potentially embarrassing proceeding before the committee gathered at 1 p.m.

Mr. Rangel’s lawyers continued to hope they could still settle the case.

There have been numerous reports over the past few hours about the pending ethics trial of Rep. Charles Rangel. The latest, from CNN, indicates that a settlement has been reached:

A New York Democratic colleague of Rep. Charles Rangel said Thursday that Rangel and the House ethics committee are "close to a settlement" involving Rangel's alleged violations of House rules.

Earlier, Rangel said he doesn't plan to attend an ethics committee hearing, where the allegations were to be made public.

The committee delayed the start of the hearing without giving a reason, increasing speculation that lawyers for Rangel might be trying to reach a deal with the panel to avoid the public airing of the veteran legislator's alleged wrongdoing.

Alabama’s senior Senator Richard Shelby (R) takes great care of his former staffers… and their high paying clients too. CREW researchers found eight former Shelby staffers who have left his office to join or create lobbying firms and nearly $267 million in federal earmarks going to clients of former staffers since Fiscal Year 2008. In return, lobbying firms and clients have donated almost $1 million to his campaign committee and leadership PAC since 1999. Meanwhile, the lobbying firms employing former staffers of Sen. Shelby have collected over $10 million in lobbying fees from the former staffers’ clients since 2007.

Unfortunately, as CREW uncovered in our previous Pork Parade project, this is business as usual in Washington. Too many members of Congress use the federal treasury as a personal checking account to support their friends, family and favorite donors.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said:

"Sen. Shelby, like Rep. Murtha before him, takes trading earmarks for campaign dollars to a level most members of Congress can only dream about. Like Murtha, Shelby earmarks for the benefit of his former staffers turned lobbyists. It seems pork barrel spending knows no party limits." Sloan also noted, "Ironically, Shelby has been quick to condemn the Obama administration for its spending. It's always the other guy who is wasting our hard-earned taxpayer dollars."

John Bresnahan and Manu Raju covered CREW’s report in Politico today:

“In a mix of revolving-door and campaign finance politics, the same organizations that have enjoyed Shelby’s earmarks have seen their lobbyists and employees contribute nearly $1 million to Shelby’s campaign and political action committee since 1999, according to federal records.”

“Shelby, elected to the Senate in 1986, has long been one of the most prodigious earmarkers in Congress, and he’s unapologetic about sending money back home.”

Get all the details here, in CREW’s study, Senator Shelby’s Pork Parade (.pdf)

While CREW’s work was exhaustive, we may not have discovered all the former Shelby staffers-turned-lobbyists, earmarks or sources of campaign cash. Let us know if we missed something by emailing CREW’s research team.

The practice of "secret holds" could face a vote in the Senate sometime soon. The votes are there, based on the public commitments made:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added a bill to eliminate the practice of secret holds on nominees to the Senate calendar on Wednesday.

Reid added Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) legislation to do away with the longstanding Senate tradition of being able to anonymously halt a president's nominees in the Senate.

Adding the legislation to the calendar has the effect of moving the legislation closer to the point where Reid could bring it up for a vote.

If Reid does bring it up, it appears that he may have the votes to do away with the practice after Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) lobbied Senate colleagues to end it. Sixty-seven votes are needed to change Senate rules, and McCaskill, as of late June, had said she'd gathered 68.

Wonder if anyone will filibuster this legislation. 

The House Ethics Committee will release its report on Rep. Charles Rangel, which will set in motion the trial against the NY Congressman. But, yesterday, Rangel confirmed that there's a possibility of a deal:

Veteran Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York confirmed Tuesday that his lawyers are discussing a possible settlement with lawyers for the House ethics committee that would avoid a public hearing this week on ethics allegations against him.

"Negotiations are much like the arc of legislative conferences, and that is until everything is agreed upon, there's absolutely nothing agreed upon," Rangel said while leaving the House floor after several votes.

He declined to talk about any details of the negotiations handled by his legal team, saying he was not participating in the talks himself.

Earlier, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said it was up to Rangel to decide whether to resign over the pending ethics allegations.

Over the past few years, it has seemed like Pennsylvania rivaled South Florida for the number of elected officials indicted -- and convicted -- of public corruption related charges. Now, a group of state leaders, including elected officials, wants to create a entity with the teeth to fight the unethical behavior:

Following a slew of corruption cases and scandals involving state officials, a bipartisan group of legislators and civic leaders called Monday for a new way of restoring public trust in Pennsylvania government.

The group wants to create a Public Integrity Commission, with investigative and subpoena powers, to replace the state Ethics Commission.

The proposed panel would cost an estimated $4 million, its supporters said - about twice the Ethics Commission's budget.

"The cost of this commission pales in comparison to the cost of corruption that has plagued this state," one of the proposal's principal sponsors, State Rep. Curt Schroder (R., Chester), said on Monday.

Another junior member of the House Democratic caucus, Rep. Walt Minnick (ID), has called for the resignation of the ethically challenged senior member of the caucus, Rep. Charles Rangel:

Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) is the second House Democrat to call for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to resign after the House Ethics Committee charged the 80-year-old congressman with multiple violations last week. 

Minnick, who represents one of the country's most conservative congressional districts and is seen as vulnerable in 2010, follows Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio), who was the first Democratic member to call on Rangel to step down on Friday.

Rangel's trial begins on Thursday before the House Ethics Committee when the charges are laid out. But, the bulk of the trial will be taking place in September, which is, of course, prime campaign season. 

Looks like ethics will be on voters minds this fall, thanks to Rep. Rangel. 

Read the full Idaho Reporter article here.

As the House Ethics Committee prepares its trial of Rep. Charles Rangel, at least one of Rangel's colleague's think it is time for him to quit. Via The Hill:

In a potential sign of what's to come, Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) on Friday night called on the beleaguered Rangel to resign. Sutton's statement came one day after the House ethics committee charged the 80-year-old Democrat with multiple violations.

"It is regrettable, but Charlie Rangel needs to resign from his seat in Congress," Sutton said in a statement. "This isn’t about being a Democrat or Republican, this is about preserving the public trust. Our nation is facing extraordinary challenges and we must be focused on building a sustainable economy that will allow our workers and businesses to flourish."

There was a new development over the weekend in the ongoing scandal involving Nevada Senator John Ensign. One of Ensign's colleagues, Tom Coburn, is cooperating with the DOJ investigation:

Sen. Tom Coburn is providing information to the Justice Department for its investigation into whether Nevada Sen. John Ensign broke the law in an attempt to keep an affair with a staff member secret, Coburn's office said Saturday.

Coburn discussed his role as counselor to the Republican Ensign in 2008 when Ensign was having an affair with Cynthia Hampton, a former campaign staffer. At the time, Coburn, R-Okla., had advised Ensign to end the affair and was seeking to mediate a dispute with Hampton's husband, Doug.

Politico reported that the "information" includes emails between the Senators.

There's a Senate Ethics Committee of Ensign underway, too. No doubt, this story is far from over.

After learning of the House Ethics Committee’s actions regarding Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan issued this statement:

Today’s action demonstrates that the notoriously lax Ethics Committee has found substantial reason to believe that Rep. Rangel has violated federal law, House rules, or both. Now the question is whether Rep. Rangel will resign or endure a public trial that promises to be filled with detailed and undoubtedly embarrassing revelations of wrongdoing. Rep. Rangel has toughed it out as long as he could, the time clearly has come for him to resign. He can no longer effectively represent the citizens of New York.

Click here to read the House Ethics Committee’s statement on Rep. Rangel.