In case you haven’t heard, our own Congressional Rep. Laura Richardson (D-escent) is now under investigation.

Per the Press-Telegram, LBReport.com, Politico.com, and our buds at LAObserved.com, the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously Thursday to look into whether all was on the up-and-up when the Congresswoman got her Sacramento house returned to her after it was sold at a foreclosure auction.

Richardson is in august company: Rep. Maxine Water (D-Los Angeles) is also under investigation.

“The votes on Waters and Richardson marked the first time that any referrals from the independent Office of Congressional Ethics had led to a full-blown investigation by the ethics committee,” Politico’s John Bresnahan writes.

And wow, I mean really, how many congressional representatives from Long Beach have lost their houses to foreclosure and then mysteriously gotten them back in a deal that sealed the lips of their house’s prospective buyer—who’d all but closed escrow before losing it himself?

Oh, wait, I know—none of them. Until now.

You know there’s a prepared statement from Richardson in this somewhere, right? Because there is.

“Richardson’s spokesman referred inquiries to a prepared statement from the congresswoman,” the P-T’s John Canalis wrote Thursday. And here ’tis:

“Like 4.3 million Americans in the last year who faced financial problems because of a personal crisis like a divorce, death in the family, unexpected job and living changes and an erroneous property sale, all of which I have experienced in the span of slightly over a year, I have worked to resolve a personal financial situation,” Richardson’s statement runs.

“But unlike other Americans, I have been subjected to premature judgments, speculation and baseless distractions that will finally be addressed in a fair, unbiased, bi-partisan evaluation of the facts.”

Let’s see—”premature judgments, speculation and baseless distractions.”

Do you suppose one reason why Richardson attracts attention from us printer’s devils is because she’s a public official?

Mmm, could be.

Tags: California, Congressional Rep Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach), Congressional Rep Maxine Water (D-Los Angeles), House Ethics Committee, John Bresnahan, john canalis, laobserved.com, lbreport.com, Long Beach, Office of Congressional Ethics, Politico.com, press telegram, printer's devil, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas