By SUSAN EDELMAN and ISABEL VINCENT
Posted: 4:42 am
October 5, 2008
Alma Rangel is a loyal and supportive wife who was scorned and dumped after her husband found new success, her lawyer told The Post.
Just a month after he took the reins of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee last year, Rep. Charles Rangel accused his wife of "cruel and inhuman treatment" and "constructive abandonment," which refers to a lack of sexual intimacy, in divorce papers.
Stunned and heartbroken, Alma decided to wage battle against her powerful hubby of 42 years, disputing his alleged grounds and demanding that a jury decide the case, court papers show.
"She felt she was a beautiful wife. He'd have to prove otherwise to a jury of New Yorkers, not just a judge," her lawyer, Sherri Donovan, said.
"She did not want this divorce. She wanted to stay married to him. She's been a loyal wife for a long time."
As the case quietly made its way through the courts, the trouble between the couple began to come to light.
In February, after the congressman endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, Alma jabbed him politically and declared her support for Barack Obama.
In July, when it was revealed that the Rangels occupied three rent-controlled apartments in a Harlem high-rise - and that the congressman used a fourth as a campaign office - he described an arrangement in which he used a studio apartment next to two that he shared with his wife.
"The apartment next door became vacant, and I got that apartment, and I used that as my den and my office. When I came in late at night from Washington, I go in there first," he said. "It's a studio apartment. It has its own kitchen and bathroom and no bedroom."
A month later, his wife was brought into the spotlight again when The Post revealed that Rangel had not reported rental income on a home he owns at a Dominican resort called Punta Cana. Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, told The Post that his client thought he didn't have to declare the income for a variety of reasons, including that his wife handled their finances.
On Sept. 10, the same day Rangel held a press conference to admit he owed taxes on the Punta Cana house, the Rangels "discontinued" their divorce case. A pool of jurors waiting to start the trial was abruptly dismissed.
In a telephone call following the withdrawal of the case, Rangel told The Post: "There is no divorce. Whatever differences that I've had with my wife have been reconciled."
Rangel is now under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for several alleged breaches, including failure to report more than $75,000 in rental income from the Dominican beach house.
Last week, Alma defended the Punta Cana tax snafu as an honest mistake, explaining that she was a "partner" in the villa and had found it "very, very difficult to get information" from the resort management. "They don't keep good records," she said.
She denied any deceit by her husband. "He's a good man who worked hard and made a good reputation. Somebody dropped the ball. It wasn't intentional."
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