Waters, an influential lawmaker who has represented Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena and parts of Los Angeles since 1990, declined to answer detailed questions, insisting her family's fortunes were kept apart from her political activities.

"They do their business and I do mine," said Waters, 66. "We are not bad people."

The Waters' close financial ties are not expressly prohibited by state laws or congressional ethics rules.

According to the Times, Waters and her children are linked through a political organization that publishes an election mailer listing campaigns she endorsed. Some candidates are included free of charge, though others pay tens of thousands of dollars.

Of the $1.7 million L.A. Vote collected in the last eight years, nearly $450,000 went to Karen Waters and her consulting firm, public disclosure reports show. About $115,000 was paid to the congresswoman's son.

Karen Waters, 46, said she and her mother kept their business dealings separate. Her son, Edward Waters, 49, a high school basketball coach and political consultant, declined to comment.

Waters' children have also landed consulting work with the mailer's advertisers, including former 1998 gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi and Indian tribes.

Campaign consultants for the tribes, whose interests and ballot measures Waters has consistently backed, said Karen Waters was hired on her merits. "We didn't hire her because of her mom," said consultant Chuck Winner.

Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, has made nearly $500,000 as a consultant to a municipal bond company and lobbying politicians his wife supports, according to public records.

The 62-year-old former professional football linebacker and U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas said Waters complied with public disclosure laws, but declined further comment.

The Times reported that Williams helped the firm win a $40 million school bond sale approved by school board members that paid Waters' mailer operation to advertise her endorsement.

With his assistance, the company also secured a $424 million bond deal to build a prison in Delano after successfully pitching the office of state Treasurer Philip Angelides.

Angelides, who has been regularly listed in Waters' mailers, said in a statement that his decisions are based solely "on the advice of the professional staff."

Bond underwriter Siebert, Brandford & Shank hired Williams for his own connections and not those of his wife, according to Napoleon Brandford III, the firm's chairman and co-owner.

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Editor's note: