Rangelmobile Hauled Away

Now if we could just see the esteemed Congressman also hauled off.

Preferably in handcuffs.

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel's Mercedes-Benz was towed yesterday from the House of Representatives parking space he had been using for years in violation of congressional rules.

As a tow truck pulled away the 1972 silver sedan under the watchful eyes of five Capitol police officers, House Republicans voted almost unanimously to oust the Harlem Democrat from his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the midst of several ethics scandals.

The measure, however, failed.

Rangel refused to answer questions about the car, whose registration expired in 2004 and which has sat in the House garage, covered with a tarp and bearing no plates.

"I told you I am not discussing that," Rangel told The Post yesterday.

"I want to be kind and gentle - please let me be."

The car was towed by Al's Towing and Storage of Falls Church, Va., to a dealership to be serviced, according to an employee at the towing company.

The Post reported yesterday that Rangel had flouted rules barring the storage of vehicles for more than 45 days and requiring all cars to have license plates and a valid House parking sticker.

"The new information about Chairman Rangel taking advantage of taxpayers to illegally store his vintage luxury car is appalling, mostly because it is part of a pattern - a pattern of Chairman Rangel abusing his public position for personal gain," said House GOP leader John Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel.

Ken Spain, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said, "In a way, this latest revelation is symbolic of how Charlie Rangel and the Democrat-led Congress have chosen to conduct themselves."

But it's OK, apparently. They're Democrats. Laws don't apply.