Kinde Durkee

Kinde Durkee 'Nearly Wiped Out' Loretta Sanchez's Campaign Fund

Ryan J. Reilly | September 9, 2011, 12:09PM

Veteran California campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee "nearly wiped out" the $379,000 in Rep. Loretta Sanchez's campaign war chest, Politico's Jonathan Allen and John Bresnahan report.

"What we've learned this week is that unfortunately, the amount in our reelect account is substantially less than the amount we've raised this year, as well as the amount reflected in the records sent to us by Durkee & Associates," Sanchez chief of staff Adrienne Elrod told Politico. "In fact, our account has been nearly wiped out."

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Topics: Kinde Durkee, Linda Sanchez

Ethics Panel

Conflicted Out? Bonner To Control $500K For Waters Special Prosecutor

Susan Crabtree | July 20, 2011, 4:47PM

Watchdogs are busy extolling the Ethics Committee decision earlier Wednesday to hire an outside counsel to investigate the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), as well as allegations that its own staff and members engaged in a pattern of prosecutorial abuse.

But a review of the special prosecutor's contract, obtained by TPM, raises new conflict-of-interest questions for the beleaguered ethics panel.

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Topics: Ethics, Ethics Panel, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters

Maxine Waters

Ethics Hires Special Prosecutor For Waters' Case Amid Turmoil

Susan Crabtree | July 20, 2011, 1:09PM

The House Ethics Committee has hired a special prosecutor to handle the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a two-year investigation that has become mired in allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and partisan maneuvering.

The panel announced the hire of Billy Martin, a partner at the Washington office of Dorsey & Whitney, in a lengthy statement Wednesday, which came in the wake of an unprecedented document leak airing the committee's dirty laundry in excruciating detail. It was a unanimous decision, the panel said.

The scores of Ethics Committee e-mails and memos, reported by Politico Monday with links to the documents, paint a picture of a committee consumed by partisan dysfunction and accusations of professional misconduct surrounding Waters' case.

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Topics: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Campaign Legal Center , Charlie Rangel, Democracy 21, Ethics, House Ethics Committee, House Ethics Leak, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Public Citizen, TARP, Taxpayer Dollars

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Ethics Committee Can't Sweep Turmoil Over Waters Case Under The Rug

Susan Crabtree | July 5, 2011, 5:45AM

Ethics experts say the House still has a lot of explaining to do when it comes to its handling of the corruption case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) last fall, which resulted in partisan backbiting, deep mistrust between Republicans and Democrats on the panel and the suspension of the lead attorney and an assistant a week before the matter was set to go to public trial.

The ethics panel has been at a virtual standstill for eight months since its internal dissension exploded onto the headlines of political publications and the Washington Post in early December. On Friday the panel announced it was extending separate investigations into Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Jean Schmidt (R-OH), and two aides, but a source said the committee was forced to continue those probes because it had yet to begin looking into the matters in earnest.

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Topics: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Ethics, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Zoe Lofgren

Ethics

After Four-Month Impasse, House Ethics Taps Staff Director

Susan Crabtree | May 2, 2011, 6:16PM

This story was updated at 9:43 a.m.

The House Ethics Committee selected a staff director and chief counsel Monday evening, ending a four-month impasse that had the panel's investigative functions at a standstill, the House Ethics Committee said in a statement.

The panel unanimously chose Daniel Schwager, who currently serves as a counsel for the Senate Ethics Committee and previously worked in the public-integrity section of the Justice Department, the two House sources indicated. The vote on the evenly divided panel was 9-0 with Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) absent.

Both Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL), who chairs the panel, and its ranking member, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), strongly recommended Schwager, the sources told TPM.

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Topics: Blake Chisam, Ethics, Ethics Panel, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Zoe Lofgren

House Ethics Committee

Suspended Ethics Attorney Looks Elsewhere For Employment

Susan Crabtree | March 9, 2011, 11:53AM

One of the suspended attorneys in the middle of a brewing showdown between Republicans and Democrats on the House Ethics Committee is looking to jump ship and get out of the messy ethics battle altogether.

Morgan Kim, who served as deputy chief of staff of the panel in the last Congress and lead attorney on the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), has applied for the job of Broward County inspector general, according to a list of applicants compiled by the Sun-Sentinel.

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Topics: Blake Chisam, House Ethics Committee, House of Representatives , Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign

Ethics

Ethics Showdown Brewing Over Suspended Attorneys

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 7:28PM

A showdown is brewing between House Republicans and Democrats on the Ethics Committee over whether to reinstate two attorneys accused of bungling the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) three months ago.

The two lawyers, Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign, were still on the House payroll as of Jan. 31, as TPM reported in late February, and committee rules require the panel to approve all the staffers at the beginning of each Congress. A source spotted Kim in the Capitol complex Tuesday, adding to the intrigue.

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Topics: Blake Chisam, Cindy Morgan Kim, Ethics, Ethics Panel, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Stacy Sovereign

Ethics

Mystery Surrounding House Ethics Committee Attorneys Continues

Susan Crabtree | March 1, 2011, 12:38PM

The House Ethics Committee attorneys accused of bungling the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) three months ago were still on the House payroll as of Jan. 31, as TPM reported late last week, and there are new questions about how they are managing to stick around.

House Ethics Committee rules clearly require the panel to approve all staffers at the beginning of each Congress.

"All staff members shall be appointed by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Committee," the rules state.

The vote shall occur at the first Committee of each Congress, according to the rules, and "as necessary" during the Congress.

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Topics: Blake Chisam, Democrats, Ethics, Ethics Panel, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Linda Sanchez, Republicans