Sun Dec 19, 3:36 PM ET
LOS ANGELES - Rep. Maxine Waters (<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/politics/news/ap/ap_on_go_co/congresswoman_family/13745977/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Rep.%20Maxine%20Waters%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw>news, <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/bio/SIG=117moa1qh/ap/ap_on_go_co/congresswoman_family/13745977/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=658>bio, <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/vote/SIG=11g5poefn/ap/ap_on_go_co/congresswoman_family/13745977/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/keyvotes/?id=658>voting record)' family members earned more than $1 million in the last eight years doing business with candidates, companies and causes she helped, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Waters' daughter and son pocketed fees from campaigns endorsed by the congresswoman while her husband worked for a bond underwriting firm that received government business from her political allies, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Waters, an influential Democratic lawmaker since 1990, whose district includes parts of Los Angeles, would not answer detailed questions on the business dealings, insisting her family's fortunes were kept apart from her political activities.
"They do their business and I do mine," said Waters, 66. "We are not bad people."
The Waters' close financial ties are not expressly prohibited by state laws or congressional ethics rules.
The Times reported that Waters and her children are linked through a political organization called L.A. Vote that publishes an election mailer listing campaigns she endorsed. Some candidates are included free of charge, while others pay tens of thousands of dollars, it said.
Of the $1.7 million that L.A. Vote collected in the last eight years, nearly $450,000 went to Waters' daughter, Karen Waters, and her consulting firm, public disclosure reports show. About $115,000 was paid to the congresswoman's son.
Karen Waters, 46, said she and her mother keep their business dealings separate. The congresswoman's son, Edward Waters, 49, a high school basketball coach and political consultant, refused to comment.
Waters' children have also landed consulting work with the mailer's advertisers, including former 1998 gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi and Indian tribes.
A campaign consultant for the tribes, whose interests and ballot measures Waters has consistently backed, said Karen Waters was hired on her merits.
"We didn't hire her because of her mom," said Chuck Winner.
Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, was paid nearly $500,000 for consulting work with Siebert, Brandford & Shank, a municipal bond company, and with politicians his wife supports, public records show.
Williams, 62, a former professional football linebacker and U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, said Waters complied with public disclosure laws, but would not elaborate.
Napoleon Brandford III, the firm's chairman and co-owner, said Williams was hired for his own connections and not those of his wife.
The Times reported that Williams helped the company win a $40 million school bond sale approved by school board members that paid Waters' mailer operation to advertise her endorsement.
With Williams' assistance, the company also secured a $424 million bond deal for building a prison in Delano after lobbying the office of state Treasurer Philip Angelides. Angelides has been regularly listed in Waters' mailers.
Angelides said in a statement that his decisions are based solely "on the advice of the professional staff." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20041219/b691ae8d/attachment.htm>