Proponent for Legal Online Poker in US Shelley Berkley Faces Ethics Probe (Video)

One of the online gambling’s biggest supporters, Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, is facing an ethics probe which threatens her run for Senate.

[Scroll Down to See Congresswoman Berkley Blast Republicans for Online Gambling Bill]

Democrats have backed Ms. Berkley while polls show a near dead heat between her and Republican incumbent Dean Heller.

The charges stem from questions regarding whether Berkley acted improperly in her advocacy on behalf of a kidney transplant program at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.  Berkley’s husband is Dr. Larry Lehrner, a kidney specialist and managing partner of a company that has contracted with the hospital.

“I frankly think it’s good that this is all coming out in the open. This complaint was filed by the Republicans, so fine, let’s go and follow it through,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday on an Obama campaign conference call. “I think you will find she didn’t violate any rules whatsoever. You can look into this more — I’m sure they will — but I don’t think there’s a problem with that.”

For her part, Berkley has denied any wrongdoing. 

“My only concern was for the health and well-being of the people of Nevada,” Berkley said Monday. “I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had stepped back. … They needed me.”

In October 2006, Berkley stood up before Congress blasting a measure that would ultimately become the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).  Her condemnation of the Act is classic!

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com