Congressional Black Caucus

Second Nepotism Incident Revealed, CBC Foundation Asks Members To Check Records

Rachel Slajda | September 13, 2010, 4:22PM

Rep. Sanford Bishop (R-GA)

A second member of the Congressional Black Caucus has acknowledged awarding scholarships to his family members.

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) awarded Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarships to his stepdaughter, his niece and the future wife of a longtime aide. Although he claims the scholarships were awarded before anti-nepotism rules were in place, he says he will pay back the (so far unspecified) amount to the foundation.

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Eddie Bernice Johnson

Dem Rep Admits Breaking Rules By Giving Scholarships To Her Grandkids

Rachel Slajda | August 30, 2010, 12:49PM

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) has admitted to breaking anti-nepotism rules by awarding Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarships to her grandchildren and to the children of her aides.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Johnson improperly awarded the scholarships (which are funded by donations, not taxpayer money) to two grandchildren, two grand-nephews and to her district director's two children. Between 2005 and 2008, she awarded a total of 15 scholarships to the six students. She told the News that no single award was more than $1,200 and that if there were more "very worthy applicants in my district," she might not have given the scholarships to her relatives. She also apparently broke the rules by awarding scholarships to students outside of her district.

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Maxine Waters

Waters Stages A Defense, Weeks Before Ethics Trial

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 1:38PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) held a long press conference in D.C. today, giving what amounted to a lengthy defense several weeks before the House ethics committee will be able to try her on three alleged violations.

Waters -- accused of improperly helping a bank, OneUnited, that her husband held stock in -- has maintained that she broke no House rules.

At today's press conference, Waters again explained her version of events: she set up a meeting between the National Bankers Association, a minority- and women-owned bank group, and Treasury officials in order to help minority-owned banks.

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Dawn Kelly Mobley

Ethics Counsel Admonished For Leaking Info Now Has Top Job For Dem Rep

Justin Elliott | March 1, 2010, 10:54AM

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Chief of Staff Dawn Kelly Mobley (inset)

The former counsel to the chair of the House ethics committee, who was admonished by the panel for leaking confidential information during a review of Caribbean junkets, is still working in a high-level congressional job as chief of staff for a Democratic representative.

The admonishment of Dawn Kelly Mobley, now top aide to Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), came in the report that found Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) improperly took corporate-funded junkets to a pair of Caribbean business conferences run by a group called the Carib News Foundation.

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Charles Rangel

Report: Ethics Panel Will Clear Rangel And Others In Caribbean Trip Probe

Justin Elliott | November 5, 2009, 11:37AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

The House ethics committee will likely clear five Democratic members of Congress including Charlie Rangel (D-NY) of wrongdoing in an investigation into whether a privately financed trip to the Caribbean broke House travel rules, Roll Call reports this morning.

The case, which involves a trip the members took on the dime of the Carib News Foundation, is perhaps the flimsiest in the slew of ethics charges against Rangel.

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