A Question Of Ethics: Are Members Liable For Their Staffers' Actions?

Q: I am a House staffer with a question about the outcome of the ethics investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). As I understand it, the Ethics Committee concluded that Waters' chief of staff violated House rules but that Waters herself did not. I had thought that Members were generally considered responsible for ethics violations committed by their employees. How is it possible then that Waters' chief of staff could have committed a violation without Waters committing one, too?

A: The Waters ethics investigation is worthy of a novel. It lasted more than three years, involved the hiring of outside counsel and had more twists and turns than a daytime soap opera. But all of those twists and turns are beside the point to your question, which goes to what the Ethics Committee ultimately concluded about Waters and Chief of Staff Mikael Moore, who also happens to be her grandson.

The investigation concerned actions taken during the financial crisis of 2002 to try to save OneUnited Bank, an institution in which Waters held stock and for which Waters' husband served on the board of directors. Last Month, the Ethics Committee issued a "letter of reproval" to Moore for "taking official action on behalf of OneUnited Bank, an entity in which your employing Member, Representative Maxine Waters, had a financial interest."

The letter cites three rules. One is the general rule requiring House employees to behave in a manner that reflects creditably on the House. The second is Rule XXIII, Clause 3, which states that a "Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or employees of the House may not receive compensation ... from any source, the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from the position of such individual in Congress." The third is Paragraph 5 of the Code of Ethics, which says federal employees may "never discriminate unfairly by dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not."

So what did Moore do wrong? The letter says Moore took actions to help OneUnited Bank's efforts to obtain assistance from the government and avoid financial collapse. Moore did so by communicating with the House Financial Services Committee on OneUnited Bank's behalf, including sending several emails in September 2008, when OneUnited Bank was in dire financial straits.

In an email to an aide, Moore wrote that OneUnited "is in trouble" and then followed up: "I think it will become a timetable issue."...