WASHINGTON » The House Ethics Committee is continuing an investigation of Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

The committee announced today it had received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative body, and said in a brief statement it would continue to look into Bachmann’s case. The committee says it will announce its course of action in September and notes that an extension does not in itself indicate an ethics violation.

A lawyer for Bachmann had previously acknowledged the investigation by the OCE and said that Bachmann was cooperating. That probe is focused in part on her short-lived presidential bid.

Bachmann, a leader in the tea party movement, announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election.