The Nevada Democratic Senate candidate accused of steering government funds toward her husband’s dialysis practice has resorted to misleading advertisements to spin information about a newly launched ethics probe.
Shelley Berkley released a major ad push to combat the notion that she used her influence in Congress to steer Medicare funds to her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner, who heads a medical PAC that has donated to Berkley’s campaign.
"How about the truth, [GOP nominee] Dean Heller," Berkley’s first ad begins, before portraying the ethics complaint that helped spur the House investigation as a politically motivated attack.
"The complaint against Shelley Berkley was filed by the Republican Party," the announcer continues.
The ad neglects to mention that the House Ethics Committee approved the investigation unanimously.
"The bipartisan House Ethics Committee has voted unanimously to proceed with a full-scale investigation into whether Rep. Shelley Berkley used her position in Congress to benefit her husband's medical practice," the Reno Gazette Journal reported on Monday.
The ethics probe has caused alarm for national Democrats hoping to preserve a thin majority in the Senate as they face a number of tossup races. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee provided Berkley with $2.3 million to broadcast the ad statewide.