The House Ethics Committee is continuing its investigation of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, it announced Wednesday.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the committee said it needed additional time to review information following a recommendation from the independent Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Conyers, who is serving his 27th term in Congress and is the top Democrat in the House Judiciary Committee.
Documents released with the statement show the ethics board found "substantial reason to believe" Conyers paid former Chief of Staff Cynthia Martin for work she didn't perform.
"If Representative Conyers provided a member of his congressional staff with compensation that was not commensurate with the work she performed, then he may have violated House rules and standards of conduct," the report read.
In a response to the Office of Congressional Ethics report submitted to the House Ethics Committee, Conyers' counsel wrote the Congressman is committed to cooperating with the investigation, but asked it be dismissed on grounds that the settlement and release agreement for Martin's dismissal was conducted in an appropriate manner.
Conyers' counsel said Martin was suspended and placed on unpaid leave after she pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor, and was eventually placed on two months of severance pay and given a payment for accrued annual leave. She then reportedly was on the payroll for two months of unpaid leave before she was fired in October 2016. [MORE]