Another Black Caucus member, Maxine Waters of California, is also facing an upcoming ethics trial over allegations she sought to help OneUnited Bank receive federal bailout funds at a time when her husband owned stock in the bank and served on its board. Waters isn’t accused of any direct actions, but rather that she failed to instruct her chief of staff not assist or consult with OneUnited after she reported the potential conflict of interest. The allegation that Waters sought to help OneUnited Bank stems from the fact that it’s a member of the National Bankers Association, a group of minority-owned banks. Waters had asked the Treasury to meet with the group over concerns minority-owned banks were being sidelined during the Wall Street bailout. Speaking to the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Waters rejected the charges and said she would welcome a trial.

Rep. Maxine Waters: “I’m not guilty of any violations. And if you’re going to wrap this all around, creating these violations because I failed to supervise my staff, it doesn’t hold water. They don’t have any proof of that. And I maintain that I want to go to trial, or whatever they want to call it, a judicatory hearing, because I think I don’t deserve this.”

Waters’s attorneys also said Tuesday the ethics panel is applying a double standard in charging her despite exonerating Republican Sam Graves of Wyoming in a comparable case last year.