The Hill News

Ben Stein, an actor and former White House official, on Monday became one of the few Republicans to defend convicted Rep. Charles Rangel.

Stein wrote in an op-ed that Rangel (D-N.Y.), who was convicted of violating 11 counts of House ethics rules, built a heroic record of service during his four decades and Congress and Army service in the Korean War. 

"! Just for me, I hope that history will record that a truly great man, Charlie Rangel, a hero of the first rank, was laid low by trivial, no-account matters, censured by people who mostly have no clue of what true courage, fighting, blood and frostbite mean," Stein wrote on CBSNews.com. "Charlie Rangel does know, and to me, he is still a hero."

Rangel, 80, has asked his fellow members of Congress to formally reprimand him instead of following through with a censure vote, which was recommended by the House ethics committee.

Censure is the highest ethics punishment a lawmaker can receive outside of expulsion. A majority of House members is required vote to enact the sanction. Republican members of the ethics committee criticized Rangel for playing fast and loose! with House rules dictating proper use of Congressional privil! ege and financial disclosure rules.

Stein served as a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and later had roles in films such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."