Berkley rapped by ethics group

In a sign that conflict of interest questions surrounding Rep. Shelley Berkley's advocacy on kidney health issues may not be going away, an ethics watchdog group has included her in a report on "the most corrupt members of Congress."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, issued its annual list, which this year named 14 lawmakers "whose actions violated the law or who otherwise engaged in serious misconduct."

Berkley was among five others given a "dishonorable mention" for "lack of regard for the rules."

The spotlight on Berkley, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, stems from the Sept. 6 disclosures in the New York Times of interplay between her advocacy in Congress on kidney health matters while her husband, a Las Vegas nephrologist, was growing his practice and becoming prominent in the profession.

One focus was on Berkley's efforts along with other Nevada lawmakers to influence federal officials to keep open the University Medical Center's kidney transplant program in 2008 without mentioning in correspondence that her husband's practice directed the kidney center.

Berkley has sought to defend her work on health issues, saying she was motivated by care for patients and not by her husband's business interests. That said, she has said in hindsight she should have disclosed the connection more fully.

"In every decision I have made, I have put the health of Nevadans first and that is why I have sought to make quality care available to veterans and to patients suffering from cancer, diabetes, autism, heart disease, kidney disease, and other illnesses," Berkley said in a statement Tuesday in response to the CREW report.

There have been no public calls for the House ethics committee to investigate the Nevadan. CREW says House conflict of interest rules are narrow and may not find Berkley in violation.

Still the group charged that Berkley "acted in a manner that does not reflect creditably on the House when she took ... official actions that could have benefited her husband’s company – without disclosing her husband’s interest."