Waters Vows to Fight Ethics Charges

Rep. Maxine Waters vowed Monday to fight allegations that she violated House rules as the ethics committee announced that the California Democrat will face a rare public trial.

The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct confirmed Monday that an investigative subcommittee found substantial reason to believe Waters violated House rules. An adjudicatory subcommittee will be convened at an unspecified date to review the charges against Waters and determine her guilt or innocence.

The panel did not detail the charges against Waters, but she has been the subject of an investigation since October 2009 focused on her relationship with the National Bankers Association and OneUnited Bank, the latter of which received $12 million in federal bailout funds.

“I have not violated any House rules,” Waters said in a statement 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.”

The California lawmaker also dismissed an Office of Congressional Ethics report released Monday, which reviewed the same allegations, characterizing questions over her actions as “frivolous and unfounded.”

The OCE, which reviews potential rules violations and recommends probes to the ethics committee, found that Waters likely violated House rules on conflict of interest when she arranged a September 2008 meeting between the National Bankers Association and the Treasury Department.

Read more: (Jennifer Yachnin, “Waters Vows to Fight Ethics Charges,” Roll Call, 08/03/2010)