California Rep. Maxine Waters wants ethics charges made public, says she didn’t violate rules

Calif Rep. Waters wants ethics charges made public

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles-area congresswoman Maxine Waters says she’s innocent of ethics violations and wants the charges made public now.

But Waters told Santa Monica public radio station KCRW on Thursday that she can’t discuss the charges herself because of a confidentiality agreement.

The 10-term Democrat has been charged with violations by the Congressional Ethics Committee because she asked regulators to help a bank in which her husband had a financial interest.

The bank later received $12 million in bailout funds.

The ethics committee announced it’s charged Waters but hasn’t released the details and hasn’t set a date for her trial. It’s supposed to do so when Congress returns from summer recess in September — only weeks before congressional elections.