Well...knock me over with a feather.It's Christmas in July ...
WASHINGTON -- A House investigative panel has decided to charge Democratic Rep. Comrade Maxine Waters of California with ethics violations, raising the possibility of a second high-profile trial with political implications for Democrats this fall.
Insiders say the allegations could be announced next week. The House ethics committee (think of an escargot pretending it has a backbone) declined Friday to make any public statement on the matter.
Waters has been under investigation for a possible conflict of interest involving a bank that was seeking federal aid. Her husband owned stock in the bank.
Waters came under scrutiny after former Treasury Department officials said she helped arrange a meeting between regulators and executives at Boston-based OneUnited Bank without mentioning her husband's financial ties to the institution. Her husband, Sidney Williams, held at least $250,000 in the bank's stock and previously had served on its board. Waters' front man has said Williams was no longer on the board when the meeting was arranged.
But did he still own the stock?
Waters has said the National Bankers Association, a trade group, requested the meeting. She defended her role in assisting minority-owned banks in the midst of the nation's financial meltdown and dismissed suggestions she used her influence to steer government aid to the bank.