Rep. Maxine Waters Faces Ethics Trial

Watch out, Dems: Last week, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York was charged with ethics violations; on Monday, California Rep. Maxine Waters received similar charges. Waters’ case will go to trial in the fall unless she negotiates a settlement beforehand. The veteran lawmaker is up against conflict-of-interest charges stemming from a 2008 deal in which she pushed for financial aid for a bank in which her husband held $250,000 worth of stock. Waters has denied any wrongdoing, though the House committee reportedly found "substantial reason" to believe that she violated ethics rules. "I simply will not be forced to admit to something I did not do and instead have chosen to respond to charges made by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in a public hearing," Waters said in a statement today.