WASHINGTON – A Georgia congressman awarded his stepdaughter, a niece and an aide's future wife college scholarships through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, making him the second House Democrat known to use the group to steer money to relatives and associates.
The nonprofit foundation's records show Rep. Sanford Bishop picked his stepdaughter, Aayesha Owens Reese, to receive the money in 2003.
Records also show Bishop awarded foundation scholarships in 2003 and 2005 to his niece, Emmaundia J. Whitaker. Another of his 2003 recipients, Sherletha A. Thomas, is now the wife of Bishop's longtime district staff director, Kenneth Cutts.
The foundation prohibits scholarships from going to lawmakers' relatives, but Bishop says the rules were unclear when his family members got their money.
An attorney for the foundation, Amy R. Goldson, said in an e-mail the group has always required that government officials not use the awards to benefit themselves.
Melanie Sloan, director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said members of Congress shouldn't need such rules to know that awarding scholarship money to their families is inappropriate.
“Giving scholarships to your family is clearly wrong,” Sloan said. “How could you not know better? All of their explanations and rationalizations ring hollow.”
Bishop campaign spokesman Tim Turner confirmed the relationships in an e-mail Friday. He said Whitaker is Bishop's niece by marriage and that Cutts and Thomas were not married at the time she got the money.
In a prepared statement, Turner said Bishop would “donate an amount equal to the scholarships” back to the foundation. He did not give an amount or say for how many scholarships, but said Bishop was working to determine that.
Another member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, said last week she would repay some $31,000 in aid money after the Dallas Morning News reported she had steered scholarships to her relatives and the children of a top aide.
