The House Ethics Committee has settled on Thursday to hold its public hearing case on Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
The case was originally launched two and a half years ago - when House investigators accused Waters of using her position to assist the bank, OneUnited, secure federal assistance when it was undercapitalized. Her husband owns stock in the institution and once sat on the board.
Waters insists she never did anything to help OneUnited and instead was trying to help a trade association that represents minority-owned banks.In the summer of 2010, the Ethics Committee formally empanelled an investigative subcommittee to review Waters' conduct.
The creation of an investigative subcommittee is the Congressional equivalent of an indictment.
The Ethics Committee questioned whether Waters used her position in Congress to help secure federal bailout money for the Boston-based bank.
In addition, Waters' family still owns stock in the bank.
Waters balked when the Ethics Committee graduated to the official investigative stage. But after months of inquiry, problems arose.
The Ethics Committee suspended two staffers who may have mishandled documents tied to ethics cases. Those aides, Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign, no longer work for the Ethics Committee.
Meanwhile, Waters has twisted in the wind for a year and a half. The Ethics Committee hired independent counsel Billy Martin to assist with closing the case.
In late February, Martin recommended that the Ethics Committee start all over again with the Waters inquiry.
Martin said he saw no evidence that the Ethics Committee tainted its own investigation. But Martin indicated it would be best to wipe the slate clean and begin again. The Ethics Committee agreed and described this as an "extraordinary" step.
