Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member Regarding the Matter of Representative Maxine Waters

Members involved

• Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Statement

After a long, careful, and competitive process, Chairman Jo Bonner and Ranking Member Linda Sánchez are pleased to announce that the Committee on Ethics voted unanimously to hire highly respected Washington, D.C., attorney Billy Martin, as an outside counsel to the Committee to review, advise, and assist the Committee in completing the matter of Representative Maxine Waters. The Committee’s decision reflects the high priority of this unique matter and the need to resolve it with the utmost care, diligence, and integrity. The Committee is firmly and unanimously resolved to protect both the rights of Representative Waters and all respondents, as well as the responsibilities of the Committee on Ethics to the House community at large. Representative Waters and her counsel were informed of the committee’s decision immediately upon approval of the contract. Serious allegations have been made about the Committee’s own conduct in this matter by Representative Waters and others. The Committee has not taken these allegations lightly. The entire Membership of the Committee on Ethics believes that its work must always comport with the highest standards of integrity.

Documents

• Statement on ethics.house.gov
• Document 1 (PDF)

More

• All House ethics statements