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.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Ethics Hires Special Prosecutor For Waters' Case Amid Turmoil

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

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

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.

Read more »

Ethics

Watchdogs: Bonner Has To Go To Fix Broken House Ethics System

Susan Crabtree | July 19, 2011, 4:56PM

Reps. Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Ethics watchdogs are calling on Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) to step down as chairman of the House Ethics Committee -- at least temporarily -- for his role in the ongoing turmoil over Rep. Maxine Waters' (D-CA) case.

"I think there needs to be an investigation into the whole matter, including Mr. Bonner's role and that Mr. Bonner should step aside during the course of that investigation," Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told TPM Tuesday. "If Mr. Bonner is found to have broken the committee's rules, he should be sanctioned by the full House."

Read more »

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

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

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.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Watchdogs To House Ethics Committee: What's Up With That Maxine Waters Case?

Ryan J. Reilly | March 24, 2011, 8:23AM

Reps. Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Maxine Waters (D-CA)

A coalition of reform groups are calling on the House Ethics Committee to resume its work on the investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). The ethics watchdogs said in a letter to House Ethics Chairman Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) that they want the committee to let the public know more about the status of the case.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

Ethics

Ethics Showdown Brewing Over Suspended Attorneys

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

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)

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.

Read more »

John Ensign

Why Can't Congress Police Itself? Ensign Case is Exhibit A

Susan Crabtree | February 3, 2011, 8:30AM

The Senate Ethics Committee's decision to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation into activities surrounding Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) affair with a political staffer is raising age-old questions about the panel's relevancy.

Members of Congress are the first to admit that they hate serving on the Ethics Committee, and policing their peers puts them in an unusually awkward position. If that's the case and the panel has to farm out its work to true professional investigators, then why have lawmakers investigating their colleagues misbehavior in the first place?

Read more »

Jo Bonner

GOP Ethics Chair: Ethics Office Would Take Info From A Tabloid

Ryan J. Reilly | January 31, 2011, 4:15PM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) told a reporter for a newspaper in his home state that political realities kept House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) from shutting down the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which he said would begin an investigation "out of the National Enquirer."

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Direction Of Ethics Committee Unclear As GOP Takes Over House

Ryan J. Reilly | January 21, 2011, 2:50PM

Rep Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

Two months after House Ethics Committee lawyers Morgan Kim and Stacey Sovereign were suspended by former Chief Counsel Blake Chisam, their future in the office is still unclear.

It's also uncertain if newly appointed Ethics Committee Chairman Jo Bonner (R-AL) will be successful in his push to relaunch the investigation into alleged ethics violations by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Read more »

Jo Bonner

Boehner Puts Bonner In Charge Of House Ethics Committee

Ryan J. Reilly | December 29, 2010, 4:42PM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the House ethics committee who reportedly ordered the Capitol Police to block the doors of the committee's offices for a week during a dispute over the handling of the ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), will serve as chairman of the House ethics committee in the 112th Congress.

Read more »

Ethics

With Ethics Committee In Turmoil, Waters Lawyer Says Case Should Be Dropped

Ryan J. Reilly | December 21, 2010, 8:10AM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) last month ordered the Capitol Police to block the doors of the ethics committee offices for a week during a partisan dispute over the handling of the ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Washington Post reported.

A Capitol Police officer guarded the door of the ethics committee offices during Thanksgiving week and about eight staffers were told not to come to work, sources told the Post last week. Reached by TPM, a spokesman in Bonner's office declined to comment. Lofgren's office referred all questions to the ethics committee, which has not offered comment.

Read more »

Blake Chisam

Report: House Ethics Committee Director Blake Chisam Leaving

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2010, 8:50AM

Chief Counsel Blake Chisam

Blake Chisam, the staff director and chief counsel of the House ethics committee who was chosen by Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), will be departing the key position imminently, The Hill reported. Chisam tendered his resignation before the election, but his departure is fueling speculation that Lofgren wants to leave the committee as well, the newspaper reports.

Chisam oversaw the committee's case against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and the delay of the trial of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Waters Won't Push For Vote On Ethics Committee Investigation

Rachel Slajda | December 9, 2010, 2:00PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced on the House floor today that she will not push for a vote on her proposal to create a bipartisan task force to investigate the House ethics committee.

"Upon the advice of my colleagues whom I trust and admire, I am not pushing for a vote on this resolution today," she said this afternoon, according to her prepared remarks. "In doing so, however, I am requesting that the Committee set the record straight, on its own accord, in a bipartisan manner, with a joint statement signed by the Chair and Ranking Member, ... [the] circumstances of the events that led to the discipline of the two attorneys leading the case against me."

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Waters Takes To Floor To Call For Investigation Of Ethics Lawyers (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2010, 11:25AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Rep. Maxine Waters (R-CA) introduced legislation on the floor of the House last night that would require the Speaker to "appoint a bipartisan task force to investigate the circumstances and cause of the decision to place professional staff of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct on indefinite administrative leave."

Waters, who is under investigation for alleged ethics violations, wants to know why the ethics committee suspended two lawyers -- Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign -- who were working on her case.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Waters Demands A Report On Suspension Of Ethics Aides During Lame Duck

Ryan J. Reilly | December 7, 2010, 11:32AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), under investigation for alleged violations of House ethics rules, is demanding an investigation into two suspended House ethics committee aides, Roll Call reported.

Waters will introduce a privileged resolution today that would create a bipartisan task force to conduct the probe into the suspension of the two lawyers, her office confirmed to the newspaper.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Report: Ethics Committee Probing If Financial Committee Withheld Evidence

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 9:37AM

The House ethics committee is probing why the House Financial Services Committee failed to fully comply with its promise to turn over all documents related to an investigation of subcommittee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Washington Post reports.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

House Votes To Censure Charlie Rangel For Ethics Violations (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 5:53PM

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., speaking of the floor of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/House Television)

The House of Representatives voted 332 to 79 to censure Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) on Thursday for violations of the body's ethics laws.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) read the censure on the floor of the House immediately following the vote.

Today's vote brought an end to the investigation of the long serving New York Democrat, who was found to have violated 11 of the House ethics rules. The charges centered upon four issues: that Rangel used Congressional resources to raise money for an educational center bearing his name; that he failed to report taxable income on a rental villa in the Dominican Republic; the he filed inaccurate financial disclosure forms; and that he used a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem as a campaign office.

Several members from both parties spoke in support changing the punishment from censure to reprimand (For more on how these punishments have played out in the past, see here.)

And Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), a member of the ethics committee, proposed a motion to lessen the sanction from censure to reprimand that ultimately failed by a vote of 146-267. It had the support of 143 Democrats and three Republicans: Reps. Pete King (NY), Ron Paul (TX) and Don Young (AK).

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Report: House Ethics Lawyers Kept Probing Waters After Investigation Phase Ended

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 9:30AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Two former federal prosecutors who were suspended from the House ethics committee -- both of whom previously worked for Republican appointed judges -- reportedly kept probing allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters even after the subcommittee recommended the California Democrat be tried for ethics violations.

Cindy Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign apparently ruffled feathers by continuing to investigate Waters after the investigative subcommittee made its recommendations in August, several Republican sources on Capitol Hill told the Washington Post.

"They were pushing too hard" to broaden the investigation, one Republican staff aide told the newspaper. Kim and Sovereign circulated a memo supporting the postponement of the trial and imploring the committee to investigate further, the source said.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Waters Has Plenty Of Questions On Suspension Of Ethics Lawyers

Ryan J. Reilly | December 1, 2010, 6:03PM

Rep. Maxine Waters

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) doesn't know why two of the ethics committee lawyers who had been working on the ethics case against her were placed on administrative leave. But she does know that something "has gone wrong in the ethics process." And she's got plenty of questions.

Waters said in a statement late Wednesday that the House ethics committee has yet to inform her directly that two of the lawyers working on the ethics case against her had been suspended. She said the "integrity of the Committee and its investigative process have been compromised" and called on the panel to clarify why the disciplinary action had been taken.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Two House Ethics Lawyers Involved With Waters Case Suspended

Ryan J. Reilly | December 1, 2010, 11:40AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Two lawyers from the House ethics committee, including the chief prosecutor working on the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), were suspended last month on the same day the panel announced an indefinite delay in Waters' public trial.

Cindy Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign were placed on administrative leave on Nov. 19 -- the same day that the panel announced an indefinite delay of Waters trial. The suspensions were first reported by Politico.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Waters Delivers Statement Excoriating Ethics Panel For Hearing Postponement

Rachel Slajda | November 29, 2010, 10:46AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), whose ethics hearing was scheduled to begin today before the House ethics committee postponed it indefinitely, delivered a statement in front of the room where the hearing would have taken place. As she has over the past several months, she excoriated the committee.

Waters called the panel's reason for delaying the hearing -- that new evidence could change the case -- "nothing more than an excuse."

Read more »

Maxine Waters

The New Waters Evidence: Emails From Her Chief Of Staff

Rachel Slajda | November 22, 2010, 12:56PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

As TPM reported Friday, the House ethics committee has delayed the hearing of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and is sending the case back to investigation, citing new evidence in the case.

Waters, in response, released a scathing statement saying the decision all but proves that she is innocent and that the committee's case against her is weak. She also claimed that the new evidence in question is neither new nor damning.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Rep. Waters Ethics Hearing Postponed Due To New Evidence

Rachel Slajda | November 19, 2010, 2:32PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

On the heels of a censure recommendation for Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), the House ethics committee today announced that the upcoming ethics hearing for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is postponed indefinitely.

Unspecified new evidence has cropped up in the case, according to the committee, and the matter will go back to an investigative panel. The hearing had been set for Nov. 29.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Ethics Hearings For Waters, Rangel To Be Held After Election

Rachel Slajda | October 7, 2010, 5:47PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

The ethics committee hearings for Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) will be held after Election Day, the committee announced today.

Rangel's adjudicatory hearing will begin Nov. 15. Waters' will begin Nov. 29.

The timing of the hearings was a point of contention between the Democratic and Republican members of the committee. Last week, the committee's Republicans demanded the hearings be held before the election in a statement that apparently broke committee rules.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

House Ethics Republicans Demand Hearings For Rangel And Waters Before Election

Rachel Slajda | September 28, 2010, 5:03PM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

In a statement that may be a violation of committee rules, the five Republican members of the House ethics committee are calling for the ethics chairwoman to schedule hearings for two Democratic members before the election.

Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) were charged in August, separately, with violating ethics rules. The next step is for the committee to hold a trial-like adjudicatory hearing for each, and then recommend punishment that can range from reprimand to expulsion.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

CEO Of The Bank Waters Helped Has A Messy Past

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 10:39AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The Washington Post has an interesting look today at Kevin L. Cohee, the CEO of OneUnited, the bank at the center of ethics allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Waters is charged with acting improperly by helping the bank, in the midst of the financial crisis, while her husband held hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in the bank. She denies doing anything wrong.

According to the Post, Waters had helped Cohee in the past, intervening in 2002 with the governor so Cohee could buy the bank that became OneUnited.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

More Details Emerge In Waters Ethics Investigation

Megan Carpentier | August 9, 2010, 2:34PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

At the heart of the ethics investigation into Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) -- which today yielded a Statement of Alleged Violation against Waters -- is her connection to the California-based bank OneUnited and its receipt of TARP funding in 2008. A new investigation by students at American University details the timing of those transactions, and calls into question some of the assumptions at the heart of the investigation.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

House Ethics Announces Three Charges Against Waters

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 12:20PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The House ethics committee today announced the specific charges against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), accusing her of improperly using her office to help a bank in which her husband owned stock.

The list of charges, called a statement of alleged violation, details three rules Waters allegedly broke: one, that members must "reflect creditably on the House;" two, that members may not "receive compensation" by improperly using their Congressional influence; and three, that members should never "dispense special favors" or "accept for himself or his family favors or benefits."

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Waters Pushes For Ethics Trial Before Elections

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 9:27AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wants the House ethics committee to set a date for her trial -- and to set one before November's midterm elections.

In a letter sent yesterday, Waters demanded that the committee release their allegations against her and that the adjudicatory hearing, or trial, be held as soon as possible, and before Election Day.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

It's Official: Ethics Committee Charges Waters With Violations

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 2:53PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The House ethics committee announced today that it will charge Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with ethics violations.

The panel did not name the charges. They'll be announced at the first public meeting of an adjudicatory subcommittee, which was formed to determine whether Waters did in fact break any House rules.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Reports: Rep. Waters Will Also Face Ethics Trial

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 10:35AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has reportedly decided to fight the ethics charges against her, becoming the second Congress member in a week to push for a public ethics trial rather than accept charges of wrongdoing.

Days after the ethics committee announced that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) would face an adjudicatory hearing, it was reported that Waters will also be the subject of a similar ethics hearing.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Ethics Smackdown! House Panel Slams Rival Body Over Stark Probe

Zachary Roth | January 28, 2010, 3:57PM

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)

Tension between two Congressional ethics bodies boiled over today in connection to an investigation of a California congressman.

The House Ethics committee announced that it had voted unanimously to dismiss a probe into whether Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) improperly took advantage of a tax break for Maryland homeowners.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Ethics Probe In Bailout Case Begins: What Is Maxine Waters Accused Of?

Justin Elliott | October 30, 2009, 4:44PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Yesterday, the House ethics committee announced it is forming a special subcommittee to investigate Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) in a case involving the bailout and a bank in which her husband had a stake.

This is separate from the leaked ethics document, and the committee is taking it more seriously than many of the already-dismissed cases outlined in that document. So what is Waters, a ten-term representative and the second ranking Dem on the House Financial Services Committee, accused of?

Read more »

House Ethics Leak

Leaked House Ethics Doc: Less Than Meets The Eye?

Justin Elliott | October 30, 2009, 1:44PM

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), October 29, 2009

The cable news networks have jumped all over the ethics document leaked to the Washington Post showing that over 30 members of Congress have been subjects of "inquiries" by the House ethics committee.

And the Post is having fun dissecting the weekly ethics summary report from July, publishing a new round of stories this morning looking at specific cases highlighted in the document.

But nearly all of the new stories show that the members in question were cleared of wrongdoing, and it's worth asking how much new information has really come to light.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Leaked House Ethics Doc: Dozens Of Members Being Probed

Justin Elliott | October 30, 2009, 8:51AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)

A July House ethics committee report leaked to the Washington Post shows that over 30 members of Congress have caught the interest of the panel, including several top Democrats.

The 22-page weekly summary report, which the Post has not put online, was mistakenly put on a public computer network because a junior staffer was using software from home, the committee said in a statement (pdf).

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), an aide, and his son were interviewed by the committee as part of the investigation into his alleged financial misconduct, according to the document.

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Ethics Committee: Two House Members Under Investigation, One Cleared

Rachel Slajda | October 29, 2009, 6:16PM

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) , Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)

The House Ethics Committee announced today it is launching full investigations into the actions of two House members, and clearing a third of any wrongdoing.

One of those being investigated is Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Waters allegedly set up a meeting between the Treasury Department and a bank which her husband held stock in and whose board he had served on. The bank later received bailout funds.

Read more »

Charles Rangel

Escalating Campaign Against Rangel, GOP Demands He Give Up Chairmanship

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 12:59PM

Rep. John Carter (R-TX) and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

House Republicans plan to introduce a resolution today calling on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who has been dogged by charges of financial misconduct and influence peddling, to resign from his powerful post at the head of the Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. John Carter (R-TX), who is leading the charge against Rangel and wrote the resolution -- which House Dems are vowing to block -- said in a statement:

Read more »