Rep. Maxine Waters strongly denies charges that she broke ethics rules

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) offered a strong denial Monday to charges she broke House ethics rules.

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

Waters released the statement after the House ethics committee released a 23-page report detailing allegations against her and also after the panel announced it has formed an adjudicatory subcommittee to hold a trial regarding the charges. The report was written by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics.

The document contained no specific charges but said that there is "substantial reason to believe" Waters violated House rules by improperly using her position to help others benefit financially and violated guidelines against conflict of interest. 

Waters, a member of the Financial Services Committee, is accused of using her position to arrange a meeting between Treasury Department officials and the National Bankers Association regarding OneUnited Bank. At the time, Waters' husband was a significant shareholder in the bank and had formerly served on its board of directors. 

The California lawmaker has been under an investigation since last year that has centered on whether she improperly tried to direct federal bailout funds to OneUnited.

Waters accused the OCE of drawing negative inferences and of twisting the facts "to fit its faulty conclusions."

She insisted the report released by the OCE showed no case.

"No benefit, no improper action, no failure to disclose, no one influenced: no case," Waters said in the statement.

The committee said the body would first meet for an "organizational meeting" but did not announce a date. The House broke Friday evening for a six-week recess.

Waters will be the second member of the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC] to face an ethics trial after Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who faces his own trial over 13 alleged violations of House rules and federal statutes.

In her lengthy statement, Waters said the charges against her stemmed from her efforts to help minority communities and businesses in her state and nationally. She said the National Bankers Association (NBA), which represents 100 minority-owned banks, requested a meeting with Treasury officials, and the meeting was not set up just to discuss OneUnited.

Waters said this point was underlined by a letter from the banking association to Treasury that was included in the OCE report.

"I followed up on the association’s request by asking then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to schedule such a meeting, as did other members of Congress. Secretary Paulson recognized that the NBA’s concerns about the future of minority banks were valid and arranged for a meeting," she said in the statement.

The OCE report said Paulson called Waters to express concern that few NBA members attended the meeting despite her insistence on holding it.
 
Three out of the four attendees invited by NBA had ties to OneUnited Bank.

E-mails provided to the OCE by Waters’ office show that the bank’s CEO invited individuals to the meeting, contradicting Waters' claim that the NBA decided who would attend the forum.

The report also claims that Waters' apparently recognized the conflict of interest, because she told House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that there was a problem with OneUnited, but that her husband had served on the board.

This story was posted 2:42 and updated at 4:19 p.m.