FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010
KLMNO
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Politics & The Nation
BY R. JEFFREY SMITH AND CAROL D. LEONNIG
A lengthy House investigation
of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been derailed by infighting within the politically charged eth- ics committee over errors in build- ing a case againsther, according to congressional sources with direct knowledgeof theprobe. The probe, opened in 2009, dis-
solved this fall andmost likelywill fall to a newly composed commit- tee and possibly a new investiga- tive staff, the sources said. The case — one of the most
prominent ethics investigations undertaken by the committee — came apart as committee and staff members argued over whether documents should be subpoenaed andwhenthetrialshouldbesched- uled and for how long. They all expectedWaters toagreetoanego- tiated settlement, which she ulti- matelydeclined. At one point, the committee’s
ranking Republican, Rep. Jo Bon- ner (Ala.), accused the chairman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), of vio- lating House rules. Other com- plaints and counter-complaints have been flung for months be- tween Lofgren and the profession- al staff leadingthe investigation. On Thursday, the committee’s
staff director and chief counsel, R. Blake Chisam, notified the House that he is resigning. Because of his closeness toLofgren,hisdeparture is seenasanindicator thatLofgren might not return as the commit- tee’s top Democrat after Republi- cans take controlof theHousenext year. At leastonecommitteemember,
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), has urged that the entire panel be re- placed in the next Congress and thatanewinvestigativeteamtakea freshlookat theallegations. The breakdown of the Waters
inquiry highlights the difficulties that the ethics committee faces in policing House colleagues. The panel sought to restore public con- fidence in itswork during the cur- rent Congress, scrutinizing nearly two dozen members for possible transgressions and preparing for several trials.But its staff of 14was quicklyoverwhelmed. The Waters probe focused on
whether the California Democrat, who chairs a House banking sub- committee, had improperly ar- rangedfederalhelpforOneUnited, a minority-owned bank in which her husband had a significant in- vestment.But theinvestigationfol- lowedatwistingpath,accordingto congressional sources, and some- times missed what many agree in hindsightwere important steps. Lastmonth,Lofgrentriedtofire
twoinvestigators,andshetoldoth- ers that they hadmisled her about the probe. But the firings were blocked by Bonner, and the em- ployees remainonpaidleave. The events at issue involved
players at the Treasury Depart- ment, the Federal Deposit Insur- ance Corp. and the House Finan- cial Services Committee. The com- mittee is headed by Rep. Barney Frank(D-Mass.),whohasacknowl- edged helping to write legislation that enabled OneUnited to qualify fora$12millionfederalbailout. Lofgren had been pushing for
theWaters trial tostart inmid-Sep- tember but staff investigators said that was “impossible,” internal e-mails show. Then, in September, after asking the staff for an update on its preparations, Lofgren be- came concerned that it was not ready and urged putting off the trial. Lofgren and Chisamlearned that investigatorsweremissingim- portante-mails fromWaters’schief of staff and hoped to request or subpoenathem. At a Sept. 16 meeting, however,
investigators told her that they were fully prepared to “begin a hearingimmediately,”accordingto sources and a staff e-mail. Staff memberscomplainedthatLofgren and Chisam had obstructed their probe. In conversations with others,
Lofgren and Chisamhave, in turn, accusedthestaffof failingtocollect needed documents before an in- vestigative subcommittee formally accused Waters of violations in June. They also say that the staff did not disclose in a timely way someof the evidencegaps. For their part, some staffmem-
bers said Lofgren repeatedly re- fused to approve a request to sub- poena Waters in late 2009 and a request early this year to subpoena Frank and his staff. Instead, they said, she repeatedly sought volun- tary compliance with evidence re- quests. Lofgren generally has sought records voluntarily and subpoenaedthemonlywhenmem- bersdidnot comply. As tensions escalated, staff
members had begun to distribute updates and recommendations about the probe to all committee members,ratherthanfirstclearing themwithChisamandLofgren. In an e-mail to Lofgren and oth-
er committeemembersOct. 13, for example, staff prosecutor Sheria
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Clarke called Lofgren’s efforts to shorten the trial “troubling” and said her decision could compro- mise the staff’s efforts to present a “fair, thorough, and effective” case. The staffwanted 30 hours to pres- ent its case, but Lofgren ordered that thechargesbepresentedinsix hours, according to congressional andlegal sources. Perhaps the only issue onwhich
all of those involved in the probe agree is that they had expected
Waters to concede that she had made mistakes and to accept an admonishment. Her refusal to do socaughteveryonebysurpriseand causedthestaff torenewthesearch for evidence. Waters’s attorneys have said the
renewed search was illegal. They have told Waters’s grandson and chief of staff, Mikael Moore, who was at the center of her office’s interactions with OneUnited, that he need not turn over e-mails sub-
poenaed in September froma pri- vate account. No action has been taken by the committee to enforce the subpoena. Richard Sauber, an attorney for
the suspended staff investigators, StaceySovereignandMorganKim, said criticisms of his clients’ han- dlingof the caseare “egregious.” “The Chair of the House Ethics
Committee. . .placedmyclientson administrative leave without ex- planation,” he said in an e-mailed
statement. “Now my clients are subjected to a series of cowardly, anonymous leaks—all inviolation ofCommittee rules—fromcertain elements of the Committee pur- porting to blame my clients for a hostof transgressions.” Waters attorney R. Stanley
Brand said the committee and its staff ignored committee rules and tried to force Waters into a quick settlement.Whensherefused, they spentmonths “trying tomanufac-
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A9 Infighting cited in breakdown of Waters ethics probe
tureacase,”he said. “Noamountofbacktracking,ad-
justing of theories or concealment could overcome the truth,” Brand said. “There were no violations,” and “inevitably the case unrav- eled.”
smithj@washpost.com leonnigc@washpost.com
StaffwritersKimberlyKindy and Paul Kane and research editor AliceCrites contributed to this report.
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