NEW YORK - New York congressman Charles Rangel tweeted an audio message Sunday explaining to supporters the status of an action against him in the House Ethics Committee. 

 LISTEN TO TWITTER HERE

Two hours beforehand, he had tweeted the link to a 32-page document signed by his lawyers that addresses the charges leveled by the committee. 

"The undisputed evidence in the record -- assembled by the Investigative Subcommittee over its nearly two-year investigation -- is that Congressman Rangel did not dispense any political favors, that he did not intentionally violate any law, rule or regulation, and that he did not misuse his public office for private gain," the statement reads. 

The investigation and subsequent charges against Rangel -- who has served nearly 40 years in the House -- may be troublesome for his Democratic colleagues in the coming election cycle as they try to sell the party's credibility on government ethics, an issue where they led Republicans as of 
July 1. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on ABC's "This Week" that Rangel's fate in Congress was a matter for the ethics committee. 

"When I came in, I said we're 'draining the swamp.' And we did. We have passed the most sweeping ethics reform in the history of the Congress. Any personal respect and affection we may have for people makes us sad about the course of events, but we have to pull the high ethical standard and none of our personalities is more important than that," she said.