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Waters is under investigation for pointing TARP funds towards a bank in which she had a vested interest -- and which might not have stayed afloat during the recent banking crisis without her help. She allegedly did it under the despicable guise of helping African-American banks survive. From WaPo:
In 2002, Waters wrote a letter with others to the governor of California in an attempt to block the sale of a black-owned bank in her district to a white-owned bank in Illinois, an action that helped pave the way for Cohee's bank -- then named the Boston Bank of Commerce -- to acquire it instead.That's pretty weak compared to Rangel's thirteen counts of ethical misconduct, Jerry-Springer-esque personal defense, and lavish birthday bash, but is still enough to give light up my Congressional ethics breaches drama radar.
...At the time, Waters was the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services subcommittee on financial institutions, and her husband had a checking account valued at $250,000 to $500,000 in Cohee's bank, as well as a home mortgage and a line of credit. Her financial disclosure for 2001 does not list income from the account -- because of a clerical error, an aide said -- and her 2002 statement lists unspecified interest income. Such a large account would be partly at risk only if Cohee's bank failed.
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