Maxine Waters cleared of ethics violations after 3 years and $1.3M spent

The House Ethics Committee cleared Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) of charges that she allegedly tried to influence regulators of a $12 million federal bailout to a bank her husband owns stock in.

At a public hearing Friday, House Ethics Committee members said their investigation found no violation by Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.

While Waters' was cleared, her chief of staff, Mikael Moore, did violate House standards of conduct by taking actions in Congress in an attempt to help the bank, said the ethics panel.

Moore, who is also Waters' grandson, will likely receive a letter of admonition for his conduct, but will not face more severe punishment.

The committee hired an outside lawyer for the first time, to investigate the committee first and then the nature of the case.

The outside attorney, Billy Martin, found no evidence that she knowingly violated House rules. When Waters learned that OneUnited, which her husband once sat on the board, was seeking bailout funds, she terminated her involvement, found the counsel.

OutFront tonight: Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Reporter at POLITICO.