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

House Ethics Committee

Direction Of Ethics Committee Unclear As GOP Takes Over House

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

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).

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Topics: Blake Chisam, Cindy Morgan Kim, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign, Zoe Lofgren

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) 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.

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Topics: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Ethics, Ethics Panel, House Ethics Committee, Jo Bonner, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign, Zoe Lofgren

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 (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.

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Topics: Cindy Morgan Kim, Ethics, Ethics Panel, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign

Maxine Waters

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

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

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.

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Topics: Blake Chisam, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Ethics, Ethics Panel, Justice Department, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign

Maxine Waters

Waters Has Plenty Of Questions On Suspension Of Ethics Lawyers

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

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.

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Topics: Cindy Morgan Kim, Ethics, Ethics Panel, Maxine Waters, Morgan Kim, Stacy Sovereign