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Report: VA official questioned in Berkley probe
The House Ethics Committee has questioned a top Veterans Affairs official in its investigation into Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
John Bright, the top VA official for Southern Nevada, told the paper he had spoken with House Ethics officials as part of an inquiry into whether Berkley unfairly helped her husband, a prominent surgeon.
According to the Las Vegas paper, Bright’s contact with the panel suggests that the investigation has expanded beyond the original questions about Berkley and her husband’s medical practice.
The latest tidbit in the Ethics investigation comes less than two weeks before Election Day, and with Berkley locked in a tight race as she tries to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R).
Republicans have not been shy in using the ethics charges against Berkley, and most polls have shown her lagging behind Heller, though within striking distance.
"It's unfortunate that Senator Heller and his allies are politicizing the committee through well-timed leaks in order to smear Congresswoman Berkley 10 days before an election," Xochitl Hinojosa told the paper in an email.
The ethics investigation against Berkley started after The New York Times reported that Berkley, over a five-year period, had pushed for numerous bills or regulations that aided Dr. Larry Lehrner, her husband and a well-known kidney specialist.
House Ethics announced in July that it had unanimously agreed to move forward with an inquiry. The panel had waited until after Nevada’s primaries, in which Berkley easily won her party’s nod for the Senate seat, to proceed.
Berkley has long dismissed the charges about her work to help a kidney transplant unit in Nevada, and has said that Republicans, including Heller, also aided in some efforts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), Nevada’s other senator, has dismissed the House inquiry, and said he did not think Berkley would face an investigation if elected to the Senate.
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