A once-confidential Congressional Ethics Committee report says Rep. Maxine Watersconsulted a fellow member of Congress before setting up a meeting with the treasury secretary for a bank her husband owned stock in because she was concerned it could've been a conflict of interest.
"She was in a predicament, because Sidney had been involved in the bank," the report said, referring to her husband, Sidney Williams, and OneUnited, a bank in Massachusetts that was then on the edge of collapse. "But OneUnited people were coming to her for help. She knew she should say no, but it bothered her," the New York Times reported.
The news comes as the ethics committee sets up a panel to examine the charges against Waters.
Waters has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that she was only seeking to help minority-owned banks gain access to the billions in tax dollars used to bail out financial institutions during the 2009 financial meltdown:
"I have not violated any House rules," Waters said in a statement. "Therefore, I simply will not be forced to admit to something I did not do."
One of the key issues is whether Waters set up the meeting with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson before a fellow member of Congress, believed to be Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (pictured above with Waters), advised her that such a meeting could pose a conflict.
One of Waters' aides said she set up the meeting before being warned by Frank of the possible danger.
Waters said she was trying to set up the meeting on behalf of the National Bankers Association, a trade group for minority-owned banks. However, the report shows that OneUnited sent Waters a series of e-mails pressuring her for a meeting.
The ethics report also says that most of the people at the meeting were from OneUnited and only one lawyer from the National Bankers Association was present.
If the charges culminate in a trial, it could be a second blow against Democrats. New York's Charlie Rangel, 80, who has served 40 years in the House, is facing a September trial regarding several alleged violations. Democrats are concerned that the trials will hurt their chances of maintaining control of the House in the November midterm elections.
Waters, 71, maintains she did nothing wrong:
"The record will clearly show that in advocating on behalf of minority banks, neither my office nor I benefited in any way, engaged in improper action or influenced anyone," she said in a statement.
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