laurarichardson

laurarichardson

For the fourth time in the last five years, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit governmental watchdog organization, has named Rep. Laura Richardson as one of Washington’s dozen “most corrupt” members of Congress.

The annual Most Corrupt list is CREW’s flagship and most visible report. For the last eight years, the organization has released the names of those who they identify as the most corrupt members of congress. And since 2008, Richardson has made the list four times. This year, she is one of four Democrats on the list and the only woman.

“In 2012, for the second campaign cycle in a row, the California Democrat bullied and coerced her official staff into working on her reelection campaign,” CREW states on its site as to why Richardson made the list. “Rep. Richardson also misused other official resources for campaign purposes, including an official car she used during her 2010 campaign. Rep. Richardson repeatedly obstructed the Ethics Committee’s investigation, encouraging staff members to lie to the committee and withholding requested documents.”

In July, Richardson admitted to seven counts related to misusing House resources including forcing aides and members of her staff to work on her re-election campaign and obstructing the subsequent investigation into the allegations. She received an official reprimand from the House of Representatives was fined $10,000.

On Wednesday the Press-Telegram reported that Richardson’s office responded to CREW’s report with a statement “suggesting no individual was to blame, but rather the administration of the ‘office as a whole. […] The Congresswoman has immediately put standards and policies in place to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to ensure this internal ethics review is not repeated in the future.'”

In concluding its investigation of Richardson, the House Committee on Ethics found her to show “an utter absence of true remorse for her misuse of official resources and, equally as significant, for what she has put her staff through, as well as a near total deflection of responsibility for this matter.”