Charlie Rangel

WASHINGTON – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall says comments he made on NBC’s Meet the Press last week were misconstrued as him suggesting that embattled U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) should step down from his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

“My quotes were misreported,” Udall said in a brief interview outside the Capitol Friday morning, where he was to cast his vote on the financial rescue package coming before the House. “I said, in effect, that if I were in Mr. Rangel’s shoes I might step aside. But it’s up to Mr. Rangel. He’s an American hero, he’s an enormous asset to the Congress...”

Rangel, a nineteen-term congressman from New York City, is facing mounting questions over his finances. The Democrat has said he will pay $5,000 in unpaid back taxes on a beach vacation home he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rangel is also facing questions about owning four rent-controlled New York City apartments at below-market rates and using congressional stationary to solicit funds for the construction of an academic center bearing his name.