Something To Consider In The Current House Of Representatives

On Monday, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article on the New York Times story that the House Ethics Committee has postponed the ethics trial of Maxine Waters because it found more evidence of direct intervention by her office to benefit the bank in which her husband owned a substantial interest.  According to newly found e-mails, her chief of staff directly coordinated with other members of the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of OneUnited. 

Mr. Morrissey reports:

“That opens up questions about the ethics not just of Waters but of those committee members who cooperated with Moore and his pleas for “small bank” assistance. OneUnited ended up with millions in TARP money, and unlike other applicants, got to count that cash among its assets before actually receiving the money.  The preferential treatment the bank received — unique among over 700 applicants for TARP money — seems oddly coincidental to Waters’ status and the newly exposed machinations of Moore on her behalf.”

This may make for a very interesting investigation.  Mr. Morrissey concludes:

“How long will it be before the House takes up this case?  One would presume that the Democrats would want to conclude the ethics trial before the end of the lame-duck session in order to have a majority on the House floor for Waters’ eventual punishment, but the news of the e-mails may have them hoping they can get everyone to forget about it forever.  That’s not likely to happen, but it may be a little more likely that a future Ethics committee may be looking into the actions of other Financial Services Committee members.”

I have to agree that the Democrats would probably want this to magically disappear into oblivion or want to deal with it while they are still in the majority in the House.  To have this case still open in January seems to me to be a very risky move–if I were on the House Financial Services Committee, I wouldn’t be sleeping soundly right now!