WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives ethics panel yesterday formally accused Democratic lawmaker Maxine Waters of three counts of breaking House rules for assisting a bank with ties to her husband get help from the federal government.
Waters, a 10-term California representative, has denied the charges in the case that poses another potentially embarrassing blow to Democrats fighting to keep their House majority in the Nov. 2 congressional elections.
The Waters case comes on the heels of 13 ethics panel charges against Representative Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat who had served as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Rangel’s trial is expected to begin in September.
The case against Waters, who heads the House Financial Services Housing and Community Opportunity subcommittee, centers on whether she helped the bank in which her husband was a stockholder get special access to top Treasury officials.
The ethics panel said Waters violated a ban on lawmakers using improper influence for personal gain and a prohibition on government workers accepting special favors for themselves or family members that could be seen as influencing official actions.
It also accused her of violating the rule that lawmakers’ conduct must reflect creditably on the House.
The charges were first announced on Aug. 2 but not made public until yesterday, after Waters waived her right to keep them secret.
It is unclear when the Waters case would go to public trial; she has asked for it to take place before the November elections.
