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News

L.A. Congressmember Maxine Waters Charged with 3 Violations

By  Zach Behrens
Published Aug 8, 2010 11:00 PM
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Maxine Waters | AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Three awaited congressional ethics charges against 10-term Los Angeles representative Maxine Waters were announced today and as expected, they revolve around an alleged help she gave to bank where her husband owned lucrative stock. Here's the breakdown of the accusations:

  • She "violated House rules that members 'shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect credibility on the House,'" explains the Associated Press. Adds Politico: "The committee charges that [her grandson Mikael] Moore, acting in his capacity as Waters's chief of staff, "was actively involved in assisting OneUnited representatives with their request for capital from Treasury and crafting legislation to authorize Treasury to grant the request." If the feds never intervened, her husband's stock, once $350,000, may have ended up as worthless.
    • The second charge says Waters violated that says a lawmaker "may not receive compensation and may not permit compensation to accrue to the beneficial interest of such individual from any source, the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from the position of such individual in Congress."
    • And the third, via the house ethics committee report: "Reasonable persons could construe [Moore's] continued involvement in assisting OneUnited as the dispensing of special favors or privileges to OneUnited, and accepting the preservation of the value of her husband's investment in OneUnited as a benefit under circumstances which might influence the performance of [Waters's] governmental duties." And that would be a violation of the Code of Ethics for Government Service.

    Waters denies the charges and said she's been helping OneUnited is nothing new as she's been assisting minority banks for years and that neither her office or her have benefited from doing so.
    Previously:
    - L.A. Congresswoman Maxine Waters to Face Ethics Trial
    - Rep. Maxine Waters Will Face Ethics Violation Charges

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