Waters’ Bank Work Irks Officials

Former officials with the Treasury Department say they are upset that a California congresswoman arranged a meeting between bank regulators and minority bank executives last year without mentioning her husband had served on one of the represented bank’s board of directors and has owned at least $250,000 in stock in the institution.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., requested the September meeting, in which the chief executive of OneUnited Bank asked for $50 million in special bailout funds. Waters’ husband, Sidney Williams, had served on the bank’s board until early last year. Former Treasury officials who had served in the Bush administration told The New York Times they should have been told about her husband’s ties to the bank.

“This is something that was potentially politically explosive and embarrassing to the administration. They should have at least let us know,” Jeb Mason, a former deputy assistant secretary at Treasury, told the Times.

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(“Congresswoman’s Bank Work Irks Officials,” Associated Press, 3/12/09)