Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/65203676/Most-Corrupt-2011-Rep-Laura-Richardson-R-CA
Timestamp: 2017-02-26 01:39:54
Document Index: 509651957

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 606', '§ 606', '§ 606', '§ 607', '§ 1301', '§ 607', '§ 1301', '§ 1301', '§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 1001']

Most Corrupt 2011: Rep. Laura Richardson (R-CA) | United States House Of Representatives
BrowseInterestsBiography & MemoirBusiness & LeadershipFiction & LiteraturePolitics & EconomyHealth & WellnessSociety & CultureHappiness & Self-HelpMystery, Thriller & CrimeHistoryYoung AdultBrowse byBooksAudiobooksNews & MagazinesSheet MusicBrowse allUploadSign inJoinMOST CORRUPT: REPRESENTATIVE LAURA RICHARDSON Representative Laura Richardson (D-CA) is a three-term member of Congress, representing California’s 37thcongressional district. Rep. Richardson’s ethics issues stem from misusing official resources for campaign activity and personal benefit. Rep. Richardson was included in CREW’s 2008 and 2009 congressional corruption reports for unrelated matters. 1 Misuse of Congressional Staff and Resources for Campaign Activity In a press interview published in March 2011, Maria Angel Macias, Rep. Richardson’s former district scheduler, alleged that Rep. Richardson had required members of her staff to volunteer time on her 2010 re-election campaign. 2 Ms. Macias said she often scheduled campaign events “while on the taxpayer dime,” and that Rep. Richardson regularly directed her to call staff members outside of office hours “to make them work at campaign events.” 3 According to Ms. Macias, Rep. Richardson frequently “would just ask me to call [staff members] and tell them to come to the campaign office. She would ask me to schedule people (staff members and drivers to accompany Richardson) for campaign fundraisers for other elected officials.” 4 Ms. Macias also said Rep. Richardson’s staff members often had little time for their families because they “had to attend campaign functions.” 5 In her resignation letter, Ms. Macias added that “on more than one occasion [she] was asked to do a task or coordinate an event that was on the ethical borderline and not in [her] job description.” 6 Although Rep. Richardson claimed she has never forced employees to volunteer, Ms. Macias’ allegations match statements made by members of Rep. Richardson’s congressional staff in other news reports. 7 According to a press report published in April 2010, Rep. Richardson’s former employees and other elected officials complained that “she forces her staff to work on her political campaigns under threat of dismissal.” 8 Some of her staff further reported that prior to the 2010 election, the congresswoman forced them “under threat of
Rep. Richardson’s 2008 and 2009 ethics issues stemmed from accepting favorable loans, and failing to properly report a loan on her financial disclosure statements. For more information, see CREW’s Most Corrupt: The 15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress 2009, available at http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/files/laura_richardson _most_corrupt.pdf. 2 Paul Eakins, Former Staffer: Interviewed by Feds While Working for Rep. Richardson, Contra Costa Times, March 14, 2011. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 Id. 6 Letter from CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan to FBI Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin, June 28, 2011 (CREW Letter), Exhibit B, Letter from Maria Angel Macias to Congresswoman Laura Richardson, March 3, 2011. 7 Eakins, Contra Costa Times, Mar. 14, 2011. 8 Betty Pleasant, The Soulvine: Calling All Cars, Los Angeles Wave, April 7, 2010.
termination” to work on her re-election campaign each weekday evening from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and on weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 9 For example, Rep. Richardson reportedly forced her staff to act as servers at a campaign event, which allegedly led the staffers to complain to the House Committee on Ethics. 10 On September 29, 2010, Rep. Richardson held a fundraiser called “Democratic Idol.” 11 On September 27, 2010, using her official House email account, Rep. Richardson’s chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, sent a message stating, “All staff are required to attend Ms. Richardson’s event. Bring spouses and tell interns they have to be there as well. Thanks.” 12 The next day, another of Rep. Richardson’s staff members, Daysha Austin, used a personal email address to send an email to the House email accounts of a number of other Rep. Richardson staffers stating, “The Congresswoman is asking all staff that has one to wear their staff shirt to tomorrow’s event so we can be visible and easily identified.” 13 Notably, the “staff shirts” employees were required to wear are white button-down shirts embroidered with the words “37th Congressional District.” 14 Also on September 28, Ms. Cooks, again using her official email account, sent an email at 11:30 p.m. to the House account of a House staff member asking if he was “available tomorrow at 5:30 to 7:30ish to cover an event at jones day that includes Pelosi, Clyburn and ten more members in a talent show.” 15 The next morning (and day of the event), the staff member explained he was not available, which led another staff member to send the following email to Ms. Cooks: Daysha just told me I’ll be taking photos at the event tonight. I explained to her I would be leaving early and she ignored me. If this is not somehow rectified I am prepared to render my resignation effective immediately. I am completely serious about this. In addition, for your information, I will be taking action against this office through House leadership if I am forced to go this route. 16 Soon thereafter, Ms. Cooks responded, “Calm down. Who do you know up there who could substitute? Someone in another office maybe who would do it as a favor?” 17 The staff member replied, “I don’t know of anyone who would do it as a favor, only those that do it for
Betty Pleasant, The Soulvine: Harsh Taskmistress?, Los Angeles Wave, November 10, 2010. Id. 11 CREW Letter, Exhibit E, Flyer for “Congresswoman Laura Richardson’s (D-CA 37th) 1st Ever Democratic Idol Fundraiser” at the Old Jones Day Building - Rooftop Meeting Room, September 29, 2010. 12 CREW Letter, Exhibit F, Email from official House account of Shirley Cooks to CA37-dc, Subject: Wednesday at 5:00 pm, September 27, 2010. The CA37-dc is a group list of all staff members of Rep. Richardson’s Capitol Hill office. 13 CREW Letter, Exhibit G, Email from Yahoo account of Daysha Austin to Shirley Cooks, et al., Subject: Rep. Richardson’s Democratic Idol, September 28, 2010. 14 CREW Letter, Exhibit H, Photograph of staff shirt. 15 CREW Letter, Exhibit I, Email chain beginning with email from Shirley Cooks to Richardson staff member, Subject: Question, September 28, 2010. 16 Id. 17 Id.
money, especially at this late of notice.” 18 Ms. Cooks agreed, “Ok. The campaign will pay. Rush to get someone please.” 19 In addition to requiring staff members to participate in the “Democratic Idol” event, Rep. Richardson also used employees to prepare materials for other campaign-related events. Using official office accounts, a legislative assistant sent an email to two other staff members stating Rep. Richardson asked staff to prepare a binder for her for an endorsement event. 20 The staff member wrote that Rep. Richardson “needs a lot of the same information that she needed for her last endorsement event,” implying Rep. Richardson previously had used staff members to prepare campaign material. 21 Rep. Richardson also attempted to dictate whether and for which political campaigns her congressional staff were permitted to volunteer. Following a staff meeting in which Rep. Richardson apparently encouraged staff to volunteer on campaigns through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Ms. Cooks forwarded a staff member’s request to volunteer for a race in Tennessee. 22 In response, Rep. Richardson angrily wrote: I am disturbed by this. I never authorized any staff to communicate to the dccc. I certainly never authorized staff to consider a specific seat. Those are my decisions. The direction was if someone was interested to see me NOT to go and do what he has done. 23 Using Staff for Personal Errands Rep. Richardson also appears to routinely have sent staff on personal errands. A typical email, sent by Ms. Cooks to the entire office on September 30, 2009, reads “On an errand for CLR. Will arrive shortly.” 24 In eight emails dated September 24, 2009 through December 1, 2009, staff members reported leaving the office to go to the dry cleaner for Rep. Richardson. 25 In 13 additional emails dated October 20, 2009 through April 29, 2010, Staff Assistant Seng Peng indicated she would be out of the office on errands for the congresswoman. 26 House Ethics Investigation Rep. Richardson repeatedly has denied reports that an ethics investigation into her misuse of staff for campaign activity is underway, though she acknowledges that ethics investigators have interviewed her staff. 27 Nonetheless, several of the congresswoman’s staff members
Id. CREW Letter, Exhibit I. 20 CREW Letter, Exhibit J, Email from Lucinda Richard to Henry Rogers and Eric Boyd, Subject: CA State Democratic Party Endorsement on 3/20, March 17, 2010. 21 Id. 22 CREW Letter, Exhibit K, Email from Shirley Cooks to Laura Richardson, Subject: FW: Memo: Campaign Leave Request, October 1, 2010. 23 Id. 24 CREW Letter, Exhibit L, Email from Shirley Cook to CA37-dc, September 30, 2009. 25 CREW Letter, Exhibit M, Eight emails from Staff Assistant Seng H. Peng and Legislative Correspondent Lucinda Richard to CA37-dc, with dry cleaner included in subject line. 26 CREW Letter, Exhibit N, Emails from Seng H. Peng to CA37-dc, with errand included in the subject line. 27 Eakins, Contra Costa Times, Mar. 14, 2011; Pleasant, Los Angeles Wave, Nov. 10, 2010.
received an email from the ethics committee captioned “Investigation of Certain Allegations Related to Campaign Activities.” 28 The email further states “Pursuant to rule 18(a), the committee has authorized counsel to conduct interviews, collect records and other documentation.” 29 In addition, Ms. Macias stated in her resignation letter she was “deposed by an ethics investigator with a lawyer present.” 30 According to press reports, Ms. Macias said the investigation seemed to center on whether Ms. Austin “was being paid from her government job while doing campaign stuff.” 31 Legal Fees Rep. Richardson’s campaign committee’s April 2011 quarterly report showed the committee owed $129,280.38 in legal fees to three firms: Perkins Coie, Reich Adell and Cvitan, and Kaufman Legal Group. 32 Potential Violations Intimidation to Secure Political Contributions Federal law prohibits members of Congress from threatening to fire, demote, or in any way change the official rank or compensation of their staff members for withholding or neglecting to make a political contribution. 33 This law “protect[s] all federal officials . . . from being forced by job-related threats or reprisals to donate to political candidates or causes,” and should be used “whenever a federal employee is actively threatened with an adverse change to his or her conditions of employment to induce a political contribution.” 34 Coerced donations of anything of value, including services, are prohibited by this section. 35 House ethics rules also make clear “in no event may a Member or office compel a House employee to do campaign work.” 36 This broad prohibition forbids members of Congress “from not only threatening or attempting to intimidate employees regarding doing campaign work, but also from directing or otherwise pressuring them to do such work.” 37 By forcing her employees to work on her re-election campaign on weeknights and weekends under threat of termination or other job-related reprisals, Rep. Richardson likely violated 18 U.S.C. § 606 and House ethics rules.
Id. Id. 30 CREW Letter, Exhibit B. 31 Eakins, Contra Costa Times, Mar. 14, 2011. 32 Richardson for Congress Committee, FEC Form 3, April Quarterly Report 2011, April 15, 2011. 33 18 U.S.C. § 606. 34 United States Department of Justice, Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, p. 112 (7th ed. 2007). 35 Id. 36 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, House Ethics Manual, pp. 135-36 (110th Cong., 2d Sess., 2008 ed.). 37 Id., p. 136.
In addition, by implicitly threatening reprisals for staff members who sought to volunteer on campaigns without her permission, Rep. Richardson likely violated 18 U.S.C. § 606 and House ethics rules. Solicitation on Federal Property Federal law prohibits any person, including members of Congress, from soliciting political donations, including money “or other thing of value,” from anyone in a federal building. 38 Violations of this statute “may arise from solicitations that can be characterized as ‘shakedowns’ of federal personnel. . . . [including] shakedowns of congressional employees.” 39 To the extent Rep. Richardson was on federal property while conducting any coerced solicitation of “volunteer” service from her staff members, Rep. Richardson likely violated 18 U.S.C. § 607. Improper Use of Appropriated Funds Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a), “[a]ppropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made.” Corresponding regulations of the Committee on House Administration provide that “[e]mployees may not be compensated from public funds to perform non-official, personal, political, or campaign activities on behalf of the Member, the employee, or anyone else.” 40 House ethics rules also make clear that “[e]mployees of the House are paid from funds of the United States Treasury to perform public duties” that expressly “do not include performing nonofficial, personal, or campaign duties.” 41 In addition, Rule 23, clause 8 provides: A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or officer of the House may not retain an employee who does not perform duties for the offices of the employing authority commensurate with the compensation he receives. According to the Campaign Booklet published by the House Ethics Committee, there is a “basic principle that government funds should not be spent to help incumbents gain reelection.” 42 The official allowance of House offices, and the goods and services acquired with those allowances, are to be used for House business and are not to be used for campaign or political purposes. 43 The Campaign Booklet clearly states that House offices, including district
18 U.S.C. § 607. United States Department of Justice, Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, pp. 114-15. 40 Committee on House Administration, Members’ Handbook, Staff. 41 House Ethics Manual, pp. 267-268 (citing United States v. Rostenkowski, 59 F.3d 1291, 1307-11 (D.C. Cir. 1995), reh’g denied, 68 F.3d 489 (D.C. Cir. 1995); United States v. Diggs, 613 F.2d 988, 994-997, 1002 (D.C. Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 982 (1980)). 42 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, General Prohibition Against Using Official Resources for Campaign or Political Purposes, Campaign Booklet (citing Common Cause v. Bolger, 574 F. Supp. 672, 683 (D.D.C. 1982), aff’d, 461 U.S. 911 (1983)). 43 Campaign Booklet.
offices, are supported with official funds and, therefore, are considered official resources. 44 As a result, they may not be used to conduct campaign or political activities. 45 The Campaign Booklet provides two cases, one in which a member was criminally prosecuted and another in which a staffer was criminally prosecuted, for misusing official resources. In 1993, a former House employee pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of government property after he was found doing campaign work at a time that he claimed he was conducting official business. 46 In 1979, a former member pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and income tax evasion in a case centering on claims that individuals on the congressional payroll were paid not for the performance of official duties, but instead for staffing and operating various campaign headquarters in the member’s re-election campaign. 47 By using her congressional staff members to conduct campaign business during regular business hours, including preparing binders for campaign events, coordinating a photographer for the “Democratic Idol” fundraiser, and directing her district scheduler to schedule staff members for campaign activity, Rep. Richardson likely violated 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a), House ethics rules, and the regulations of the Committee on House Administration. In addition, by repeatedly using her congressional employees to run personal errands for her, Rep. Richardson likely violated 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a), House ethics rules, and the regulations of the Committee on House Administration. False Statements to Congress Federal law prohibits members of Congress from making “any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” 48 on “a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch.” 49 If Rep. Richardson certified on payroll forms she spent official funds only for official expenses despite frequently requiring her congressional staff to perform campaign and personal work, she likely violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Conduct Not Reflecting Creditably on the House House Rule 23 requires all members of the House to conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.” 50 This ethics standard is considered to be “the most comprehensive provision” of the code. 51 When this section was first adopted, the Select Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 90th Congress noted it was included within the Code to deal with “flagrant” violations of the law that reflect on “Congress as a whole,” and
Id. Id. 46 Campaign Booklet (citing United States v. Bresnahan, Criminal No. 93-0409 (D.D.C. 1993)). 47 Campaign Booklet (citing United States v. Clark, Criminal No. 78-207 (W.D. Pa. 1978)). 48 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). 49 18 U.S.C. § 1001(c)(2). 50 Rule 23, cl. 1. 51 House Ethics Manual, p. 12.
that might otherwise go unpunished. 52 This rule has been relied on by the committee in numerous prior cases in which the committee found unethical conduct including: the failure to report campaign contributions, 53 making false statements to the committee, 54 criminal convictions for bribery, 55 or accepting illegal gratuities, 56 and accepting gifts from persons with interest in legislation in violation of the gift rule. 57 By forcing her employees to work on her re-election campaign on weeknights and weekends under threat of termination or other job-related reprisals, threatening reprisals for staff members who sought to volunteer on campaigns without her permission, soliciting donations on federal property, and using her congressional staff members to conduct campaign business during regular business hours and run personal errands for her, Rep. Richardson acted in a manner that brings discredit to the House.
House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, Report Under the Authority of H. Res. 418, H. Rep. No. 1176, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. 17 (1968). 53 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, In the Matter of Representative John J. McFall, H. Rep. No. 951742, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 2-3 (1978) (Count 1); In the Matter of Representative Edward R. Roybal, H. Rep. No. 95-1743, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 2-3 (1978). 54 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, In the Matter of Representative Charles H. Wilson (of California), H. Rep. No. 95-1741, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 4-5 (1978); H. Rep. No. 95-1743 (Counts 3-4). 55 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, In the Matter of Representative Michael J. Myers, H. Rep. No. 96-1387, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 2, 5 (1980); see 126 Cong. Rec. 28953-78 (Oct. 2, 1980) (debate and vote of expulsion); In the Matter of Representative John W. Jenrette, Jr., H. Rep. No. 96-1537, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 4 (1980) (member resigned); In the Matter of Representative Raymond F. Lederer, H. Rep. No. 97-110, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. 4, 16-17 (1981) (member resigned after Committee recommended expulsion). In another case, the Committee issued a Statement of Alleged Violation concerning bribery and perjury, but took no further action when the member resigned (In the Matter of Representative Daniel J. Flood, H. Rep. No. 96-856, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 416, 125-126 (1980)). 56 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, In the Matter of Representative Mario Biaggi, H. Rep. No. 100506, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. 7, 9 (1988) (member resigned while expulsion resolution was pending). 57 House Comm. on Standards of Official Conduct, In the Matter of Representative Charles H. Wilson (of California), H. Rep. No. 96-930, 96th Cong. 2d Sess. 4-5 (1980); see 126 Cong. Rec. 13801-20 (June 10, 1980) (debate and vote of censure).
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