Berkley says she won’t change U.S. Senate campaign in face of ethics probe

WASHINGTON - Rep. Shelley Berkley said Tuesday that she has no plans to alter her campaign for U.S. Senate despite falling under a House ethics investigation that figures to linger through Election Day.

"I'm already racing around the state and discussing the issues, and I already know what's important to the people I represent. What I need to do is continue to do what I am doing," Berkley said. "I don't think the campaign is going to be determined on this."

Berkley's message that she would forge ahead has not altered, at least not in the immediate aftermath of Monday's announcement of the investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The panel said it was forming an investigative sub­committee to probe allegations that the Las Vegas Democrat used her official position to further the business interests of her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner.

Berkley's campaign produced a tele­vision commercial that began airing last month rebutting portions of the ethics allegations, after the Republican-backed American Crossroads PAC went on the air in Nevada with an attack tied to the case.

The Berkley ad has been on and off television for the past few weeks, and it began running again this week. In response to a query, her campaign did not say whether it plans new efforts to combat the allegations through advertising or other strategies.

In a brief interview outside the House chamber Tuesday, Berkley said she had not read through a report by the Office of Congressional Ethics, a board whose preliminary investigation provided a basis for the Ethics Committee to initiate a full probe. The report has not been made public.

"My campaign staff reviewed it," Berkley said. She added that she has hired attorneys to defend her in the investigation, but she declined to give their names or talk further about the nuts and bolts of the case, saying she had been urged by the House committee to remain silent on those aspects.

"I was told very specifically not to talk anything about process, so I'm going to respect that," she said. "I don't want to do anything that will exacerbate the situation or cause the Ethics Committee to take pause.

"The only thing I can say is at the end of the process, I know there will be absolutely no question of what my interests and concerns were," Berkley said.

Berkley has disputed allegations that have been made public about her advocacy on kidney health issues that intersected with the interests of Lehrner, a prominent Las Vegas nephrologist.

A New York Times investigation in September that provided the basis for an ethics complaint filed by Nevada Republicans reported that she "pushed legislation or twisted the arms of federal regulators to pursue an agenda aligned" with Lehrner's business interests that expanded over the past decade in Southern Nevada.

Berkley's chief ally, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., stepped up his defense of the lawmaker Tuesday, telling reporters he did not believe the investigation would hamper her campaign.

Berkley and incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller have been in a close race in one of the contests that could determine which party runs the Senate next year and whether Reid retains his position as Senate majority leader.

Reid addressed one of the issues reportedly being investigated: that Berkley in 2008 lobbied leaders of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reverse an order revoking the kidney transplant certification of University Medical Center, the public hospital in Las Vegas. Lehrner's partnership, Kidney Specialists of Southern Nevada, was and is medical director of the kidney department.

Reid said the campaign to save the unit took place against a backdrop of UMC financial problems that also affected cancer care and kidney dialysis programs.

"I and the entire rest of the Nevada delegation did whatever we could to keep that program going. Why? Because it saved lives," Reid said. "And it should have absolutely no bearing on Shelley Berkley. She did the right thing, as I think I did."

Berkley likewise has noted she was not alone in lobbying to rescue the transplant program.

Heller, who was then a House member, and fellow Republican and then-Rep. Jon Porter signed a letter alongside her calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reconsider the hospital's certification.

Defending against the ethics allegations, Berkley has said her actions on kidney health issues have been motivated by concern for Nevada patients, not her husband's business.

"I'm sure at the end of the investigation, there won't be any doubt the only thing I was interested in was the health and well-being of the people I represent," she said Tuesday.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.