U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters – who was re-elected to represent California’s 43rd Congressional District last month – is under fire from Republicans and right-wing media after a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing shows her daughter received over $240,000 in payments from her campaign.
Karen Waters was paid the money in various disbursements over a nearly two year period. According to the filing, Karen Waters received five payments between October and November which totaled $28,150 and 26 between March 2019 to September 2020 that total $212,600.
The filing states Karen received the money for services described as “walker payments,” “slate mailer management fees,” “GOTV,” “canvassing” and “office expenses.”
The day after news of the payments broke, GOP activist and United Hispanic America President Omar Navarro – who has unsuccessfully tried to unseat Waters in the past – announced he was running against Waters again in 2022 and said he would “beat The Wicked Witch of the West” in a tweet asking for support.
Conservative Host Chuck Woolery retweeted an article by the Conservative Brief with a Twitter headline that read “Maxine Waters in BIG Trouble Over $240,000 Payment Last Election Cycle to Daughter.”
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin
Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
This isn’t the first time Waters has been scrutinized for having her daughter on her payroll. It is reported Karen Waters’ has received over $1 million in payments for working on her mother’s campaigns since 2004, either directly or through her public relations firm, Progressive Connections.
The Los Angeles Times published an article the same year stating other members of Waters’ family had also benefitted financially “by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that the influential congresswoman has helped.”
At the time, Waters dismissed the allegations and said, “They do their business, and I do mine.” She went on to add, “We don’t have to answer your questions. … We are not bad people.”
In 2018, The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group, filed a complaint with the FEC asking for Waters’ campaign finances to be fully audited.
Rep. Waters, 82, has been serving in Congress since 1991. She has not issued a public reply in this instance.
