Full Report On Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
News Stories
- A Frustrated Caucus Keeps Complaints Quiet
March 12, 2010 - Is Maxine Waters Really As Dumb As She Seems?
February 25, 2010 - OneUnited now ready to lend
February 10, 2010 - OneUnited retools after tough 2009
February 1, 2010 - Ethics Smackdown! House Panel Slams Rival Body Over Stark Probe
January 28, 2010 - Out of fashion
January 14, 2010 - Biggest Government Porkers of 2009 Named by Group
January 11, 2010 - The Government's Most Appalling Scandals Of 2009
January 7, 2010 - OneUnited skips third payment
December 22, 2009 - Thanks a lot, L.A.
November 26, 2009 - Behind the scenes at House ethics committees
November 20, 2009 - Consequences for ethical lapses on Capitol Hill
November 19, 2009 - Editorial: Asking questions
November 19, 2009 - Congresswoman Maxine Waters faces ethics probe
November 18, 2009 - Congresswoman Laura Richardson faces ethics probe
November 17, 2009 - Hive of Scum and Villainy
November 14, 2009 - Corruption in our government knows no allegiance
November 13, 2009 - Ethics Panel Should Do Its Job
November 8, 2009 - Kaptur wants the full story on ethics leak
November 5, 2009 - House members under ethics scrutiny
October 31, 2009 - Waters makes personal defense of ethics after investigation leak
October 30, 2009 - Ethics breach
October 30, 2009 - The House Ethics Committee at Work
October 30, 2009 - Ethics Probe In Bailout Case Begins: What Is Maxine Waters Accused Of?
October 30, 2009 - Disclosure of List Threatens House Inquiries
October 30, 2009 - House subcommittee created to investigate Rep. Maxine Waters
October 30, 2009 - House widens probe of OneUnited supporter
October 30, 2009 - Rep. Waters: I Did Nothing Wrong Contacting Treasury
October 30, 2009 - News Of Ethics Probes Rocks Washington
October 30, 2009 - Anatomy of an Ethics Leak
October 30, 2009 - Congressional defense appropriations subcommittee rocked by ethics probe leaked by hacker: report
October 30, 2009 - Ethics probe so big lawmakers have to take a number -- half the Pentagon spending committee caught in net
October 30, 2009 - House Ethics Committee Votes to Investigate Rep. Laura Richardson
October 30, 2009 - Ethics Inquiries Into Lawmakers Surface via Security Breach
October 30, 2009 - Dozens in Congress under ethics inquiry
October 30, 2009 - Ethics Committee Opens Investigations Into Waters, Richardson
October 29, 2009 - Pelosi faces pressure to intervene in ethics committee dispute
October 28, 2009 - OCE, House ethics committee fight over release of document
October 27, 2009 - Democrats' ethics investigations spark GOP election hopes
October 18, 2009 - Congressional Ethics Inquiries Drag on, Despite Vows to End Corruption
October 18, 2009 - Watchdog comes back to bite Democrats
October 13, 2009 - Waters: Rangel's Not The Only One Who Failed To Disclose Properly
October 7, 2009 - Rep. Waters: 'Many members' suffer from disclosure problems like Rep. Rangel
October 7, 2009 - Outside Groups Chastise Ethics Panel Over OCE Clash
October 2, 2009 - Michael C. Vidic: Trashing the Constitution
September 30, 2009 - For CBC, the joy is tempered by worry
September 22, 2009 - Open the Windows, Speaker Pelosi!
September 21, 2009 - Troubled Waters
September 21, 2009 - Inquiry for lawmaker linked to OneUnited
September 19, 2009 - House Ethics Panel Probes Rep. Waters
September 18, 2009 - House Investigating Rep. Waters for Bank Ties
September 18, 2009 - Click here to find out more! House ethics panel investigates Rep. Maxine Waters
September 17, 2009 - House panel investigates Waters
September 17, 2009 - Maxine Waters Probe Extended
September 17, 2009 - Ethics Panel Puts Off Jackson Probe, Citing Justice Department Request
September 16, 2009 - Ethics Panel Probing Jackson Jr., Graves, Waters
September 16, 2009 - U.S. House panel probing ethics matters
September 16, 2009 - Ethics Committee Starts Probes of Two Lawmakers, Defers Another One
September 16, 2009 - House ethics panel defers probe on Jesse Jackson Jr.
September 16, 2009 - CREW Cut: Rangel on "Most Corrupt List," Again
September 16, 2009 - Californians represented on most corrupt members of Congress list
September 15, 2009 - OneUnited Bank’s assets drop 18%
August 7, 2009 - Inouye's office inquired about bank's aid request
July 1, 2009 - Rep. Maxine Waters Under Scrutiny for Bank Ties
March 16, 2009 - Bank's actions called improper
March 14, 2009 - Rep. Waters' troubling ties
March 14, 2009 - Maxine Waters under scrutiny for bank ties
March 13, 2009 - $700 billion will be politically distributed?
January 26, 2009
The 15 most corrupt members of Congress
- Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
- Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
- Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
- Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
- Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
- Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
- Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
- Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
- Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
- Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
- Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)
- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
- Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Dishonorable mentions
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) is a ten-term member of Congress, representing California’s 35th congressional district. She is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Waters’ ethics issues stem from a meeting she arranged between officials at the Department of Treasury and OneUnited Bank, a bank with which she has financial ties. Rep. Waters was included in CREW’s 2005 and 2006 congressional corruption reports for unrelated matters.
Meeting Between OneUnited and Treasury Officials
In September 2008, Rep. Waters asked then-Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson to hold a meeting for minority-owned banks that had suffered from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac losses. The Treasury Department complied and held a session with approximately a dozen senior banking regulators, representatives from minority-owned banks and their trade association.
Officials of OneUnited Bank, one of the largest black-owned banks in the country, which also has close ties to Rep. Waters, attended the meeting along with Rep. Waters’ chief of staff. Kevin Cohee, chief executive officer of OneUnited, used the meeting as an opportunity to ask for bailout funds. Former Bush White House officials stated they were surprised when OneUnited officials asked for bailout funds because they understood the meeting had been arranged to discuss the losses minority-owned banks endured when the federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In December 2008, Rep. Waters intervened again, asking Treasury to host another meeting to ensure minority-owned banks received part of the $700 billion allocated under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Within two weeks, on December 19, 2008, OneUnited secured $12.1 million in bailout funds.
Rep. Waters did not disclose her financial ties to OneUnited Bank to Treasury officials in her letters requesting meetings between regulators and bank officials. Treasury officials claimed that although OneUnited also requested a meeting with regulators regarding Fannie and Freddie Mac losses, it wasn’t until Rep. Waters intervened that the Treasury approved a meeting.
By using her position as a member of Congress to assist a bank to which she has financial ties, Rep. Waters violated House conflict-of-interest rules and engaged in conduct that does not reflect creditably upon the House.