Investigador respalda Rep. Maxine Waters, en la sonda de ética

WASHINGTON — For three years, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) steadfastly maintained that during a call with the Treasury secretary in the midst of the nation’s financial crisis she was looking out for the interests of all minority-owned banks — not just one with ties to her husband.

She did nothing wrong, she said repeatedly.

El viernes, el House Ethics Committee investigator agreed. His recommendation, expected to be approved by the panel, would bring to an end a long and often tumultuous ethics case against Waters, who was accused of improperly helping a bank in which her husband owned stock.

“The evidence in the record does not support a knowing violation of ethics rules or any other standard of conduct with respect to Rep. Maxine Waters by a clear and convincing standard,” said Billy Martin, the Washington attorney hired by the committee.

He presented his findings at a rare public session of the usually secretive panel, whose own behavior came under scrutiny during the Waters probe.

Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.), acting chairman of the committee in the Waters case, said that the panel, evenly divided between Demócratas y Republicanos, was prepared to accept Martin’s recommendation. The committee met behind closed doors Friday before adjourning. Officials declined to comment.

An announcement, along with Martin’s 150-page report, is expected early next week.

La recomendación es agridulce para el veterano congresista del Sur de Los Angeles, uno de Los Angeles’ políticos liberales más perdurables. Ella no quiso hacer comentarios después de la reunión, pero dejó sonriendo con su marido.

La exoneración prevista del franco legislador de 74 años de edad, despeja el camino para que se convierta en el principal demócrata en el Comité de Servicios Financieros de la Cámara en el próximo Congreso, sucediendo al representante de retirarse. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Pero el comité de ética estaba considerando su forma más ligera de castigo contra Aguas’ jefe de personal y nieto, Mikael Moore, por tratar de ayudar a OneUnited Banco. Aguas’ marido, Sidney Williams, servido en la junta OneUnited partir de enero 2004 a abril 2008 y propiedad de acciones de la institución.

Moore, comparecer ante el comité, negado las acusaciones.

Waters did not speak during the meeting and said she would not talk about the investigation until after the committee announces its final decision.

Frank issued a statement saying that he was “pleased but not surprised that the House Ethics Committee found no reason to bring any charges against my colleague.”

The case stemmed from a telephone call that Waters, a senior member of the congressional committee that oversees banking, made to then-Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson during the financial crisis to set up a September 2008 meeting between his staff and representatives of minority-owned banks.

The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent body that referred the case to the House Ethics Committee, said the discussion at the meeting “centered on a single bank, OneUnited.”

Three months later, OneUnited received $12 million in federal bailout funds, which had not yet been repaid as of Monday.

Aguas, a prominent politician who has held elective office in Sacramento or Washington for more than three decades, insisted that her efforts were consistent with her longtime work to promote opportunity for minority-owned businesses and lending in underserved communities. She said that she also had fully disclosed her husband’s ties to the bank.

Martin said that after reviewing more than 150,000 pages of documents and the transcripts of 41 witnesses and conducting his own interviews, he concluded that Waters, in seeking the Treasury meeting, “believed she was acting on behalf of all minority banks which she believed had been seriously affected by the conservatorship of Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac.”

“Because the evidence supports that she was acting on behalf of a large group of banks, we found no evidence in the record to support that her phone call to arrange the meeting violated any House rule or any other standard of conduct,” Martin dijo.

If Waters, accused of three ethics violations, had been found guilty of improper behavior, she could have faced a range of punishments, including reprimand, censure or even expulsion, all of which require votes of the House.

Derechos de autor 2012, Los Angeles Times