"Richardson’s case revolves around her home in Sacramento, which she lost to foreclosure and which then was sold to a third party and later regained by Richardson. Investigators for the OCE — an independent commission tasked with recommending cases to the ethics committee — looked into the foreclosure issue and whether neighbors who cleaned up Richardson’s blighted yard made an improper gift to the congresswoman by mowing the lawn and gardening.

The ethics office dismissed part of the case but forwarded parts of it to the committee, sources said.

Jeff Billington, Richardson’s spokesman, declined to comment on the case until the ethics committee decides whether to move ahead with an investigation."