Ex-Aide to Conyers Refiles Ethics Complaint

A former aide to Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has renewed a complaint to the House's ethics committee alleging that the congressman compelled his staff to work in election campaigns and to do personal errands for him.

Deanna Maher, a former deputy chief of staff in one of Conyers's Michigan offices, reminded the committee of her allegations, originally filed two years ago, in a January letter and asserted the lawmaker's actions had violated House rules. She said that she and other employees were required to work on local and state campaigns and baby-sit for Conyers's children, among other chores. The Hill newspaper and the Detroit Free Press first reported the allegations.

Conyers's attorney, Stanley M. Brand of the Brand Law Group, said that the accusations were old and had been dealt with by the House. "We responded to the committee two years ago in full and have not heard back from the committee," Brand said.

Two phone calls to the panel, formally the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, went unreturned.

-- Jeffrey H. Birnbaum