Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made big headlines over the past two years with her tough-talking attacks on President Donald Trump.
But now that she’s actually in control of one of the most important House committees, she’s already toning down her act.
“These people in the media who only want to talk about Trump and want to somehow fashion an argument that I’m going to spend all my time on Trump” are wrong, Waters – who spent the past years pretty much only talking about Trump – told Bloomberg. “This is a big committee, with complicated issues that we’ve been working on.”
Waters is now chair of the House Financial Services Committee, overseeing the banking and finance industries.
And maybe that’s why she’s suddenly piping down: As the news agency noted, nine out of her top 10 donors were all from the finance industry – the very same industry she’s now supposed to regulate.
“It’s not clear whom she’ll end up disappointing more: business-friendly Democrats or progressive Democrats,” Bloomberg wondered.
But she’s not out to please Democrats of either stripe.
She’s looking out for Number One.
Indeed, Waters has a long and ugly history of shady dealings and ethical questions. Back in 2011, the left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named her one of its most corrupt politicians.
The group called her out for arranging a meeting between officials at the Department of Treasury and OneUnited Bank – a bank with which she had financial ties.
“In the midst of a national financial catastrophe, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) used her position as a senior member of Congress and member of the House Financial Services Committee to prevail upon Treasury officials to meet with OneUnited Bank,” CREW said in a news release at the time. “She never disclosed that her husband held stock in the bank.”
YIKES!
Last year, an investigation by the Washington Free Beacon found she had paid close to $650,000 in campaign funds to her own daughter to send the political equivalent of junk mail over the years.
While there is no indication of any wrongdoing and it appears to be legal, it also looks like nepotism in action.
That’s not exactly a good look for someone who has called out President Trump for bringing in his own family members as advisors.
If she can do it… why can’t he?
Waters is also one of the leading voices on the left for incivility, and not just with her grandstanding outbursts in front of the cameras during committee hearings.
Last year, she urged leftists to badger members of the Trump administration when they appear in public, even when trying to enjoy a quiet meal with family.
“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” she said. “And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Her cry came as several conservatives were harassed in public, often at restaurants, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.).
She was denounced by both Democrats and Republicans alike for the rant, and Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint against her over it.
“Rep. Maxine Waters incited violence and assault against members of President Trump’s Cabinet,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the time. “It is urgent that the House Ethics Office quickly acts to hold her accountable for this dangerous incitement.”
The committee – which has a long and ugly history of protecting both Democrats and Republicans – hasn’t publicly acted on the complaint.
With Democrats in control of the House now, odd are they never will.
— The Horn editorial team