CREW SENDS HOUSE ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST REP. LAURA RICHARDSON

18 Jun 2008 // Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a complaint to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, better known as the ethics committee, against Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) asking for an immediate investigation into whether she has violated House rules. Specifically, CREW asked that the committee determine whether Rep. Richardson accepted a loan in violation of the House gift rule, failed to properly report a loan on her financial disclosure statements, and engaged in conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House by loaning her campaign money at a time when she was in default on her mortgage.

CREW also asked the ethics committee to investigate whether Rep. Richardson has received other favorable treatment from lenders in the past. According to news reports, Rep. Richardson has defaulted on loans at least eight times on properties she owns in Long Beach, San Pedro and Sacramento. It is unusual for someone with such a deplorable credit history to be approved for mortgages repeatedly, suggesting that Rep. Richardson may have traded on her other elected positions in order to receive those loans.