California Rep. Maxine Waters fired back Friday at reports by The New York Times and Wall Street Journal that revealed she helped steer millions of dollars in bailout funds to a minority-owned bank on whose board her husband served.

"Recent press reports have raised questions about my advocacy on behalf of minority banks," the California Democrat said in a statement. "Ultimately, however, these articles only revealed one thing: I am indeed an advocate for minority banks." 

The newspapers reported that Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, arranged a meeting in September between Treasury officials and the chief executive of OneUnited, one of the country's largest black-owned banks, which requested $50 million in special bailout funds.

Treasury officials told the newspapers that Waters didn't tell them her husband, Sidney Williams, served on the bank's board of directors and has owned at least $250,000 in stock in the institution.

The bank, then considered to be in a precarious condition, received $12 million in December from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was intended for healthy banks.

Williams no longer serves on the bank's board, and it is unclear whether he still owns OneUnited shares. Waters did not address that in her statement.

Waters said Friday she arranged a meeting on behalf of the National Bankers Association to discuss the concerns of minority banks and added that she did not attend the meeting or participate in the conversation.

Waters also accused the Times of perpetuating a misconception about the way in which TARP funds are distributed to banks requesting assistance.

"I maintain that my advocacy on behalf of small, women, minority and community banks is appropriate," she said in the statement. "I will continue to bank and do business with minority depository institutions and work on behalf of my constituents, and the institutions that serve them."

OneUnited came under fire from regulators in 2007 for failing to give more loans to lower-income residents in Miami while favoring wealthier customers there, the newspapers reported. And the FDIC sanctioned the institution in October for "unsafe or unsound banking practices," including excessive compensation for its chief executive.

Click here to read The New York Times report.