National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Executive Director Rob Jesmer issued the following statement today regarding the House Ethics Committee’s unanimous decision to move forward in their investigation of Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.
“It speaks volumes that even Shelley Berkley’s Democrat colleagues unanimously voted to move forward investigating Berkley’s use of her office to enrich her and her husband. Since Berkley entered the political arena we’ve seen a long pattern of ethical questions surrounding her conduct. Nevadans deserve someone in the Senate who they can trust to work on their behalf and not someone – like Ms. Berkley – who puts her own financial and political interests first.”
BACKGROUND:
- On September 5, 2011, a front-page story in the New York Times uncovered a pattern of instances in which Congresswoman Berkley used her official office for apparent personal financial gain.
- On September 21, 2011, the Nevada Republican Party filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics outlining the allegations uncovered in the Times’ investigation. To view a copy of the complaint, click here.
- According to a letter released by the House Ethics Committee on February 9, 2012, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) reviewed the complaint and referred it forward to the full Committee for investigation. Had this complaint been “frivolous” as Berkley and her allies have long claimed, it would have been simply dismissed instead of returned to the full Committee for investigation.
- On June 29, 2012 the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics unanimously voted to establish an investigative subcommittee surrounding Rep. Shelley Berkley. Pursuant to the Committee’s action, the investigative subcommittee shall have jurisdiction to determine whether Representative Shelley Berkley violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of her duties or the discharge of her responsibilities, with respect to alleged communications and activities with or on behalf of entities in which Representative Berkley’s husband had a financial interest.
