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Ärende: Conyers
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Former Conyers staffer revivies allegations
Thursday, November 16, 2006
By Ed Golder
The Grand Rapids Press
A Holland-area woman is reviving charges of unethical conduct against U.S. Rep.
John Conyers as the Detroit Democrat prepares to ascend to the chairmanship of
the House Judiciary Committee.

Deanna Maher, retired chief of staff for Conyers' Downriver Region office near
Detroit, alleges Conyers required her to work on political campaigns and to
baby-sit for his children while on the government payroll, both violations of
House ethics rules.

Conyers has, in the past, denied the allegations.

Maher, who lives in Park Township and has longtime connections to West
Michigan, said Conyers is not fit to hold the important post.

"He's coming up for election for heading the Judiciary. I do believe the
country needs better," she said.

Media reports about the allegations from Maher and at least three other
staffers first appeared in 2003.

In early 2004, Maher sent documents she said substantiated her claims about
Conyers to the House Ethics Committee, officially the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct.

She is frustrated the committee never took public action.

"To this minute, with all the documentation, not one person has been
subpoenaed. Not one," she said.

Mary Boyle of Common Cause, a Washington-based government watchdog group, said
the Ethics Committee has been "entirely ineffective for most of the last
decade."

"This whole John Conyers thing is a perfect example of why and how it doesn't
work for everyone, including the members (of Congress) and the public," said
Boyle, a spokeswoman for the group.

It is unclear whether the Ethics Committee investigated the allegations and
cleared Conyers, or whether the matter is an ongoing concern. A spokesman for
the committee did not return a call seeking comment.

Maher was hired by Conyers in 1997 and retired from his office in May 2005.

She said Conyers sent staff members from Washington to work on the unsuccessful
2002 campaign of his wife, Monica Conyers, for the state Senate.

That same year, in October, Maher said she was ordered by her boss to work on a
number of Democratic campaigns at a campaign office in Allen Park.

She was given $300 in cash for the work, which is supposed to be separate from
her usual constituent service responsibilities, she said.

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