Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on July 16, 2012

By Ron Kampeas July 16, 2012

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WASHINGTON (JTA) -- When Rep. Shelley Berkley pitched her bid for the U.S. Senate to pro-Israel donors, the Nevada Democrat reportedly told them it came down to math.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, the leading pro-Israel lawmaker said, she was one of 435. In the Senate shed be one of 100.

Now backers of the Jewish congresswoman are nervously crunching different figures: Her odds of winning in the wake of the formal launch of a House ethics inquiry.

The investigation launched July 9, and backed by Democrats and Republicans on the committee, will focus on allegations that Berkley's championing of kidney care benefited her husband, Larry Lehrner, a leading kidney specialist in Nevada.

The inquiry arises from revelations in a New York Times report last year which found, among other perceived conflicts, that her successful efforts to block a federal bid to close a kidney transplant center saved part of a practice co-owned by her husband.

Berkley's office said she was "pleased with the committees decision to conduct a full and fair investigation, which will ensure all the facts are reviewed."

Those close to Berkley say the campaign dreads the fodder this gives Berkleys opponent, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who can now run ads beginning, as one insider put it, Shelley Berkley, comma, under an ethics investigation, comma.

Read more here:
Ethics inquiry may hurt rise to Senate for Rep. Shelley Berkley, a pro-Israel stalwart

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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