No reasons were given for the recusals, which were voluntary. Six recused in Waters ethics case

Six members of the House Ethics Committee — including all five Republicans on the secretive panel — have recused themselves from the long-running case involving Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), an unprecedented move that raises new questions on whether the Waters case can be finished.

Reps. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), chairman of the Ethics Committee, and Rep. Michael Conaway (Texas), who was the lead Republican on the special subcommittee that investigated Waters, are among the recusals, Bonner said in a letter released on Friday.


Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), ranking member on the Ethics Committee, will also recuse herself.

The extraordinary move appears to be an effort by the Ethics Committee to break a partisan stalemate and push the Waters case toward a final conclusion. The matter has now dragged on for more than three years.

While stating that there was no evidence of “wrongdoing” or “inappropriate partisanship,” Bonner’s letter said the lawmakers decided to step aside on this case “out of an abundance of caution and to even an appearance of unfairness, their voluntary recusal will eliminate the possibility of questions being raised as to the partiality or bias of Committee Members considering this matter….”

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) will take over as acting chairman, while Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) — who is already serving on the Ethics Committee — will be ranking member. The other GOP appointees include Reps. Mike Simpson (Idaho), Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Tim Griffin (Ark.) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.).

In addition to Bonner, Sanchez and McCaul, the three other Republicans stepping aside are Reps. Michael McCaul (Texas), Charlie Dent (Pa.) and Gregg Harper (Miss.).

There does not appear to be any other example of such mass recusals in any previous ethics case, and these moves demonstrate once again the exceptional difficulties the Ethics Committee faces in completing its work.

“I am not aware of any precedent for six members of the committee recusing themselves in one matter,” said Rob Walker, a former chief counsel for both the House and Senate ethics panels. “It’s an extraordinary move.”

An outside counsel looking into the Ethics Committee’s handling of the Waters case also said he has “not discovered any evidence to indicate actual bias or partiality by any current Member or staff of the Committee” and noted that all the recusals were voluntary.

The outside counsel, Billy Martin, was appointed in July following a POLITICO report on internal committee memos from the former chief counsel raising questions on whether cases involving Waters and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) were handled in accordance with panel rules.

Waters is alleged to have improperly intervened on behalf of a minority bank where her husband owned more than $350,000 in stock during the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. Waters has denied any wrongdoing, but the Ethics Committee initially voted to charge her with three violations last summer. Waters then asked for an ethics “trial.” Those proceedings were postponed in Nov. 2010 and the case has been on hold following legal and partisan fights.

According to Bonner’s letter, Martin has been unable to get one “necessary witness” to testify about the Waters case. The witness refused to appear voluntarily, and when subpoenaed, declined to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment privilege.

“The witness’ refusal to answer the questions prevents the completion of the due process review,” Bonner said in his letter.

The Ethics Committee could now offer an immunity agreement in order to get the witness to testify or move a criminal contempt resolution in a bid to compel testimony. Either move would be a demonstration of how serious the Ethics Committee is in finally resolving the Waters case.

The recusals and the reluctant witness issues are potentially tied together in an important way. Bonner and McCaul were alleged by Blake Chisam, former chief counsel and staff director on Ethics during the last Congress, to have had secret conversations with two ex-professional staffers on the Ethics Committee — Morgan Kim and Stacey Sovereign — about the Waters and Rangel cases. Such interaction is not allowed under Ethics Committee rules in certain circumstances.

Chisam, with the backing of then Ethics Committee Chairman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), moved to fire the pair, who were overseeing the Waters case. But Bonner blocked them, and they were suspended.

Richard Sauber, an attorney for Kim and Sovereign, said they “both testified willingly and voluntarily before the special counsel and answered all questions asked of them.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Stacey Sovereign's name.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Leigh Munsil @ 02/17/2012 06:18 PM CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Stacey Sovereign's name.