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Caught Our Eye

Rep. Hinojosa adds his great-niece to his staff

Posted by Katie Barrows on Sept. 30, 2013

Another Hinojosa has recently joined the office of Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas).

Krista Hinojosa Garcia, has started working in her great-uncle's Edinburg office as a constituent services representative. This is not the first time that Hinojosa has employed his great-niece. In 2010, Garcia was a campaign staffer for Ruben Hinojosa for Congress. 

A federal criminal statute and House ethics rules prohibit Hinojosa from hiring a close family member in a federal office. But great-niece falls outside of the list of family ties that are specifically prohibited.

He is not the only member to have hired a relative. Since 2007, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has employed her grandson Mikael Moore as her chief of staff - a relationship that has received ethics scrutiny but is not prohibiited by the statute or ethics rules.