Earlier today, CREW's Melanie Sloan issued a blistering statement on the financial controversy swirling around Rep. Laura Richardson.  It's having reverberations.  This afternoon, the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, gave prime coverage to that statement:

The Congressional watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on Tuesday fired a shot at Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), describing her financial problems as “appalling” and calling her a “deadbeat congresswoman.” 

Richardson has been the subject of media scrutiny since she lost one of her three California homes to foreclosure in May. A review of state records showed that she has a long history of defaulting — a total of eight times since 2004 — on each of her three homes in the state.

The Hill reported last week that Richardson left off her financial disclosure statement the heavily indebted mortgage of her Sacramento home, which may be a violation of House ethics rules and federal law. Over the weekend the Long Beach Press Telegram reported that Richardson has a history of unpaid car repair bills. Since those reports were aired, Richardson apparently settled some of those debts, according to Los Angeles media outlets.

While stopping short of calling for an official ethics investigation, CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan called Richardson’s financial situation “shocking.”