More Evidence To Be Investigated In Maxine Waters Ethics Case

Contrary to California Democrat Maxine Waters' assertions that the delay in her ethics trial by the House ethic committee means they don't have strong enough evidence to bring her case to trial, additional evidence by way of emails have been discovered and the House ethics committee has to now investigate further.

NYT reports:

The e-mails are between Mikael Moore, Ms. Waters’s chief of staff, and members of the House Financial Services Committee, on which Ms. Waters serves. The e-mails show that Mr. Moore was actively engaged in discussing with committee members details of a bank bailout bill apparently after Ms. Waters agreed to refrain from advocating on the bank’s behalf. The bailout bill had provisions that ultimately benefited OneUnited, a minority-owned bank in which her husband, Sidney Williams, owned about $350,000 in shares.

Due to the late date, this push back of the trial date to allow for further investigation may see that her punishment, should she be found guilty of violating the ethical standards of the House, would be determined by a House of Representatives controlled by Republicans in the coming year instead of Democrats who control the House now.

This comes on the heels of New York Democrat Charles Rangel being found to have committed 11 ethical violations and is now awaiting what amounts to sentencing by the full ethics committee.

Related:

Pelosinomics–It happened on her watch

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Charles Rangel Found Guilty Of 11 Ethics Violations

There were 13 violations listed and after whining and walking out of the ethics trial against him, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has been found guilty of 11 of the 13 charges.

C-Span explains what happens next:

The matter now moves to the full Ethics Committee which would then hold a public sanctions hearing to determine the appropriate punishment for Rep. Rangel. If a violation is found, the Ethics Committee would vote on disciplinary measures and send a final report to the full House to take action.

ABC News on possible sanctions:

Possible sanctions range from expulsion -- considered highly unlikely -- to reprimand, censure or a monetary fine. According to House ethics rules, a reprimand is reserved for a "serious violation;" censure is for "more serious violations."

Of course expulsion is highly unlikely, the House is still controlled by Democrats and Nancy Pelosi until the new GOP majority takes over next year.

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Charlie Rangel Whines Then Walks Out on His Ethics Trial

Two years after the scandal broke and after an extensive investigation into the dirty dealings of Charlie Rangel (D- NY) resulting in 13 ethics violations, finally the ethics trial begins.... without Rangel who apparently walked out after having his request for a delay denied.

He asked for a delay because he didn't have a lawyer and claims he has no money left for one.

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

Malkin lists the charges in this political theater show.

Count I: Conduct in Violation of the Solicitation and Gift Ban
Count II: Conduct in Violation of Code of Ethics for Government Service
Count III: Conduct in Violation of the House Gift Rule
Count IV: Conduct in Violation of Postal Service Laws and Franking Commission Regulations
Count V: Conduct in Violation of Franking Statue
Count VI: Conduct in Violation of House Office Building Commission’s Regulations
Count VII: Conduct in Violation of the Purpose Law and the Member’s Congressional Handbook
Count VIII: Conduct in Violation of the Letterhead Rule
Count IX: Conduct in Violation of the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) and House Rule XXVI
Count X: Conduct in Violation of Code of Ethics for Government Service
Count XI: Conduct in Violation of Code of Ethics for Government Service
Count XII: Conduct in Violation of Code of Conduct: Letter and Spirit of House Rules
Count XIII: Conduct in Violation of the Code of Conduct: Conduct Reflecting Discreditably on the House

Via The Politico:

Rangel has been hit with a 13-count “Statement of Alleged Violation” following a two-year investigation, including allegations that he improperly solicited millions of dollars from corporate officials and lobbyists for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at The City College of New York; failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of income and assets on financial disclosure forms; maintained multiple rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury Harlem apartment building; and failed to pay income taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.

The problem here is it is all for show because this trial is proceeding before the newly elected Republicans take over the House and Rangel has friends and allies among the Democrats that currently hold the majority in the lame duck session (the time between election and when the new majority takes over).

With that said, it is a very public show and you can watch it via C-Span.

More from The Hill, Wapo and USA Today.

While this political theater moves along, new accusations are hitting Rangel for using PAC funds improperly. (Source)

Congressman Charles Rangel, whose ethics trial starts tomorrow, appears to have improperly used political-action committee money to pay for his defense.

Rangel tapped his National Leadership PAC for $293,000 to pay his main legal-defense team this year. He took another $100,000 from the PAC in 2009 to pay lawyer Lanny Davis.

Two legal experts told The Post such spending is against House rules.

"It's a breach of congressional ethics," one campaign-finance lawyer said.

Washington, DC, political lawyer Cleta Mitchell said there is "no authority for a member to use leadership PAC funds as a slush fund to pay for personal or official expenses."

Next up on Nov. 29, 2010, a second ethics trial is scheduled for Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

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Reformation & Revival Volume 5 now online

The following articles are now available on-line in PDF:

Volume 5.1 - Theme: The Cross
Anonymous, "Editor's Introduction," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 9-16.

S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., "The Mediator's Cross According to Heaven," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 17-31.

George M. Bowman, "How Can the Cross Motivate Your Ministry?" Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 33-43.

Thomas N. Smith, "A Pastoral Letter on Cross-bearing," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 45-49.

Tom Wells, "For Whom Did Christ Die?" Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 51-64.

Thomas W. Frazier, Jr., "The Church: Living in the Present World Under the Cross of Christ," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 65-80.

Craig A. Parton, "From Arrowhead to Augsburg: Bill Bright in the Light of the Lutheran Confessions," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 81-94.

David W. Hegg, "The Modern Marketing of the Gospel," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 95-110.

David Oldham, "The Gift of Prophecy and Modern Revivals," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 111-136.

Anonymous, "Bibliography," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 137-142.

Anonymous, "Book Reviews," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 143-164.

Anonymous, "Book Notices," Reformation & Revival 5:1 (Winter 1996): 165-169.


Volume 5.2 - Theme: Puritanism I
John H. Armstrong, "Editor's Introduction," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 9-11.

Erroll Hulse, "The Story of the Puritans," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 13-54.

Don Kistler, "Why Read the Puritans Today?" Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 55-66.

Joel R. Beeke, "Reading and Hearing the Word in a Puritan Way," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 67-76.

Douglas Wilson, "The Liberated Puritan," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 77-82.

Thomas N. Smith, "The Perils of Puritanism," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 83-99.

Joel R. Beeke, "Puritans Living in Relationship to Affliction, Desertion, and Sin," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 101-116.

Joel R. Beeke, "Reading The Best In Puritan Literature: A Modern Bibliography," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 117-158.

Anonymous, "Book Reviews," Reformation & Revival 5:2 (Spring 1996): 159-171.


Volume 5.3 - Theme: Puritanism II
John H. Armstrong, "Editor's Introduction," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 9.

William S. Barker, "Profiles in Puritanism," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 11-54.

Michael A.G. Haykin, "The Reflections of a Puritan Theologian on Regeneration and Conversion," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 55-69.

John Hannah, "The Cure of Souls; or, Pastoral Counseling: The Insight of John Owen," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 71-92.

Andrew Davies, "Spirit and Word: Lessons from Puritanism," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 93-109.

Douglas Jones, "Liturgy Lessons from Owen," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 111-118.

Christopher B. Holdsworth, "The Eschatology of Jonathan Edwards," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 119-147.

Joel Beeke, "Rare Puritan Facsimiles for Book Lovers," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 149-158.

Michael A.G. Haykin, "Book Review," Reformation & Revival 5:3 (Summer 1996): 159-161.


Volume 5.4 - Theme: Ethics
John H. Armstrong, "Editor's Introduction," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 9-13.

Bruce A. Ware, "Beyond Moral Reform," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 15-18.

George M. Bowman, "The Heart of Christian Ethics," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 19-31.

Evan C. Hock, "Theology and Ethics," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 33-52.

John Bolt, "Rightly Applying the Word of Truth: The Bible and the Moral Life," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 53-66.

Robert W. Yarbrough, "Excellence in Christian Living: Sex Ethics à la First Thessalonians 4:3-8," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 67-78.

Nelson D. Kloosterman, "Human Holiness and Creation," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 79-96.

Charles Wingard, "An Ethical Evaluation of Operation Rescue," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 97-115.

Mark R. Talbot, "The Morality of Everlasting Punishment," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 117-134.

Larry E. McCall, "A Biblical Ethic of Work," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 135-146.

Tom Wells, "On the Ethics of Controversy," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 147-158.

Editor, "Annotated Bibliography," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 159-163.

Anonymous, "Book Reviews," Reformation & Revival 5:4 (Fall 1996): 165-179.

Vox Evangelica Volume 11 (1979) now on-line

The following articles are now available on-line in PDF:

H. Dermot McDonald, "The Person of Christ in Contemporary Speculation and Biblical Faith," Vox Evangelica 11 (1979): 5-17.

This is a very helpful study in Christology.

Robert L. Sturch, "The Continuing 'Euthyphro' Debate," Vox Evangelica 11 (1979): 18-31.

This article would be of interest to students of ethics / philosophy.

A.N.S. Lane, "Calvin's Doctrine of Assurance," Vox Evangelica 11 (1979): 32-54.

Harold H. Rowdon, "The Early Brethren and Baptism," Vox Evangelica 11 (1979): 55-64.

Derek J. Tidball, "Perspectives on Community Living," Vox Evangelica 11 (1979): 65-80.

A careful study of Christian communities which centres around a careful exegesis of the relevant New Testament passages.

Vox Evangelica Volume 9 (1975) now on-line

The following articles are now available in PDF:

H. Dermot Mcdonald, "Development and Christology," Vox Evangelica 9 (1975): 5-27.

I found the section particularly helpful (from pages 5-6):

One reason for the hesitancy over the introduction of the term homoousion at Nicaea was the objection that it is not found in the New Testament. And the Arians made capital out of the fact that the Creed used extra-biblical concepts. Athanasius writes to a friend who was troubled by their reiterated question, ‘Why do the Fathers of Nicaea use terms not in Scripture, “Of the Essence”, and, “One in essence”?’ He replied that the Arians do indeed employ the designations ‘Son’ and ‘Logos’ which are certainly biblical; but they do not mean by them what the faith and doctrine of the church understands. So, contends Athanasius, the mere use of scriptural phrases is no guarantee of truth and no safeguard against error. To be precise as to the meaning of a biblical statement, it is often necessary to go outside the Bible itself. This was the more necessary, Athanasius argues, in the context of the discussions at Nicaea, since every scriptural phrase suggested was emptied of its true meaning by the Arian exegetes. When, for example, it was declared that the Son ‘always’ was Son, and ‘from’ God, they were ‘caught whispering to each other and winking with the eyes’.[1] They sought to explain away the real import of the declaration by quoting the usage of the words in other passages; for example, 2 Cor. 4:11―‘For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’s sake’; while they contended that to say that the Son is, ‘from the Father’, is to say no more than that He is among the ‘all things which are from God’ (2 Cor. 5:18 cf. l Cor. 8:6). Such ‘artful expressions and plausible sophisms’, as Athanasius considered them to be, cannot be met by pitching quotation against quotation.
[1] Athan., de Decretis, 20.

Norman Anderson, "Ethics: Relative, Situational or Absolute," Vox Evangelica 9 (1975): 28-36.

A.N.S. Lane, "Scripture, Tradition and Church: An Historical Survey," Vox Evangelica 9 (1975): 37-55.

M.M.B. Turner, "The Significance of Spirit Endowment for Paul," Vox Evangelica 9 (1975): 56-70.

James Atkinson, "Justification by Faith," Vox Evangelica 9 (1975): 70-79.