Waters Charged With Three Ethics Violations

The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is facing three counts of ethics violations.

The charges stem from accusations that the Congresswoman played a role in soliciting TARP funds for OneUnited, a bank that her husband had a combined total of 3,976 shares in. 

“If OneUnited had not received this funding, [Waters’] husband’s financial interested in OneUnited would have been worthless,” a statement released by the committee reads.

The committee found that Waters behaved in a manner that did not reflect creditably on the House, and that she breached standards barring the exertion of influence for individual financial gain and the use of special favors.

In July, Waters motioned to have the charges dropped, citing the ethics committee’s decision last year to dismiss allegations that Republican  Sam Graves (Mo.) benefited from failing to disclose his financial ties with witnesses he invited to testify before Congress. The committee denied Waters’ request.

The ethics committee’s response to Waters coincides with the upcoming trial for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who faces 13 alleged violations.