CREW

I
citizens .for.
and ethtcs tn washtngton
Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
H-204, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
BY FAX
Dear Mr. Speaker and Leader Pelosi:
July 18, 2011
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) urges you to immediately
appoint an outside counsel to investigate the House Ethics Committee.
Last December, we learned the Ethics Committee had been in disarray, leading to a near
total breakdown in the investigation into the conduct of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).' Today,
Politico provided new information, suggesting the problems were even more severe than
previously suggested. The former chief counsel to the committee, Blake Chisam, repmiedly
alleged in a series of memos in late 2010 to then-Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) that the
two lead attorneys handling the Waters investigation, Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign,
breached confidentiality by providing ce1iain material to those not authorized to view it.
2
Mr.
Chisam also claimed Mr. Kim and Ms. Sovereign had failed to provide Rep. Waters ' defense
team with all the material to which it was entitled and had improperly accessed the computers of
other committee staffmembers.
3
Mr. Kim and Ms. Sovereign made their own counter-accusations against Mr. Chisam,
claiming he withheld evidence against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) in advance of the
congressman's trial and that Mr. Chisam tried to protect Democrats.
4
1
R. Jeffrey Smith and Carol D. Leonnig, Infighting Cited in Breakdown of Waters Ethics
Probe, Washington Post, December 17, 2010; Paul Kane and Carol D. Leonnig, House Ethics
Panel in Tmmoil as Top Lawyer Resigns, Washington Post, December 16, 2010.
2
John Bresnahan, Ethics Lapse May Affect Waters Case, Politico, July 18, 2011.
3 !d.
1400 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 450, Washington, D.C. 20005 I 202.408.5565 phone I 202.588.5020 fax
www.ci ti zensforethics.org

Honorable John Boelmer
Honorable Nancy Pelosi
July 18, 2011
Page Two
The House Ethics Committee has remained virtually inactive since the beginning ofthe
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Congress. Confidence in the House ethics process already is historically low and the
information continuing to leak out of the committee confirms its dysfunctional status. Not
surprisingly, upon learning ofMr. Chisam' s memos, Rep. Waters stated, " [g]iven what appears to
be politically motivated and gross misconduct by the committee" the case against her should be
concluded.
Given the serious nature ofthe charges against committee and its staff, Rep. Waters is
correct, there can be no confidence in the case against her. The committee should reconsider
whether to pursue the case against Rep. Waters and, if it decides to go forward, disregard all
previous work done by the committee on the case, stmiing afresh from the date of the refenal by
the Office of Congressional Ethics.
As critical as CREW has been of Rep. Waters, any Ethics Committee investigation of her
conduct - or of any other member of Congress for that matter - must be above reproach. While
Rep. Waters long ago "lost faith in the committee' s ability to be fair and transparent," so too have
CREW and others in the government reform community. At this point, far more important than
an inquiry into the conduct of any specific member of Congress is an investigation into the
committee itself. A thorough review of the committee's actions in the Waters case should be
conducted by well-respected outside counsel. The allegations made by Mr. Chisam, Mr. Kim and
Ms. Sovereign all should be included in any such probe.
As CREW stated when it first raised this issue with you in December of last year, the
American people demand that members of Congress act with honesty and integrity. It is
unfortunate some of those charged with investigating unethical conduct may themselves have
handled those responsibilities in a mmmer allowing charges of misconduct, unfairness and
partisanship to be leveled. It is imperative for the House leadership to step in and take decisive
action to reinvigorate and instill public and member confidence in the ethics process.
Melanie Sloan
Executive Director
cc: Honorable Jo B01mer, Chai1man
Honorable Linda T. Sanchez, Ranking Member
House Ethics Committee