The House ethics committee announced Monday that it is charging Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with congressional rules violations, just days after another House Democrat, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), was also hit with ethics charges by the committee.
The ethics committee has not released the details of Rep. Waters’ alleged violations, but the charges are believed to stem from the congresswoman’s suspected attempt to obtain bailout funds for a bank where her husband served as a boardmember.
Rep. Waters has denied the allegations, and said she will fight them in a public hearing.
“I have not violated any House rules,” said Rep. Waters, in a statement released on her website Monday. “Therefore, I simply will not be forced to admit to something I did not do and instead have chosen to respond to charges made by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in a public hearing.”
Just last Thursday, the House ethics committee charged Rep. Rangel with 13 separate violations of House rules, including tax evasion, improper use of a rent-stabilized apartment, and quid-pro-quo solicitation of donations.
Both Rep. Waters’ and Rep. Rangel’s ethics hearings are expected to take place during the midterm election season. The prospect of public, trial-like hearings may mean more political trouble for the Democratic Party, which was already facing an uphill battle to keep its majority in the House.
Alana Goodman is NLPC’s Capitol Hill Reporter.
Related:
FBN: Flaherty Assail Racial Mandates in Financial Regulatory Overhaul (video)
House Passes Financial Services Bill; Mandates Racial Favoritism
Black and Hispanic Broadcasters, Congressmen Seek Bailout