House Ethics Committee Clears California Rep. Laura Richardson

The House ethics committee says California Democrat Laura Richardson did not knowingly accept a gift from Washington Mutual Bank or violate any standards of conduct in connection with a residential property she owns in California.

However the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said the mortgage broker used in connection with the purchase of her property, Charles Thomas, admitted during the course of the investigation to knowingly submitting fraudulent information, without Rep. Richardson’s knowledge, to Washington Mutual in connection with her mortgage application.

It said it had "unanimously voted to refer Mr Thomas to the Justice Department for further action as it deems necessary and appropriate."

In October 2009, the Standards Committee launched an investigation into whether Representative Richardson failed to disclose certain real property, income and liabilities on her financial disclosure forms and whether she received an impermissible “gift” or received preferential treatment from her lender relating to a property she owned in Sacramento, California.

Rep. Richardson bought the Sacramento home with no deposit in 2007, but Washington Mutual later foreclosed and auctioned off the house. She later obtained a revised mortgage and was able to get the home back.

After the 7 month investigation, the Standards Committee said it unanimously voted to dismiss its review of the allegations.

"Representative Richardson did not knowingly accept a gift from Washington Mutual Bank (Washington Mutual) or violate any applicable standard of conduct in connection with the purchase of, foreclosure on, rescission of foreclosure sale for, or modification of loan terms for a residential property she owns in Sacramento," the committee said in a statement.

In addition, it said Representative Richardson did not violate the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) in connection with her financial disclosure statements relating to her California properties.

The Investigative Subcommittee authorized the issuance of fourteen subpoenas; interviewed seven witnesses; and reviewed approximately seven thousand pages of documents. It also hired an independent consultant with experience in the mortgage industry to advise the Investigative Subcommittee.

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