LOUISVILLE - A letter to the Federal Communications Commission from U.S. Rep. Anne Northup seeking help for a constituent was sent to resolve a licensing problem for radios sold by her husband's company, The Courier-Journal reported Thursday.

        The FCC said it reopened the case involving Radio Sound on June 21, the same day it received Ms. Northup's letter, but FCC officials said the matter had been reopened by the time the letter arrived.

        The application was granted four days later, but the FCC said Ms. Northup's action had nothing to do with its decisions.

        Ms. Northup, a Republican representing Kentucky's 3rd District, did not reveal her personal connection to Radio Sound in her letter, a copy of which the newspaper obtained from the FCC. Her financial disclosure statement filed in May lists the company as an asset, with shares of stock owned by her husband worth at least $5 million and producing income of at least $1 million annually.

        According to House ethics rules, lawmakers may aid constituents with problems before government agencies, but should not seek preferential treatment for supporters, contributors and friends, and should refrain from special favors for family members.

        “Members and employees may not contact an agency on a matter in which they have a personal financial interest,” the rules state.

        Terry Carmack, Ms. Northup's chief of staff, said the matter was handled like any other problem Ms. Northup's office receives. Ms. Northup did not personally sign the letter and was not involved in handling the matter, he said.

        The letter, written on Ms. Northup's stationery and faxed from her district office in Louisville, was hand-signed “Anne” with no other signature mark. Mr. Carmack said the signature was generated by a computer.

        Mr. Carmack said the letter would have looked like a request for special consideration if it had cited Ms. Northup's Radio Sound ties.

        Mr. Carmack told the newspaper that Ms. Northup ultimately had no personal financial interest because the radios “were going to be shipped eventually. ... If there is no financial gain or loss, I guess there wasn't a personal financial interest.”

        But Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based watchdog group, said the matter represents a clear conflict of interest.

        “I don't know how you could get any more of a clear-cut breach of ethics than this one,” Mr. Allison said. “... She should not be in a position of helping out her husband's business interests.”

        “The fact that she hid her ties with her husband shows that she herself thought that this was not an above-board thing to do,” said director Gary Ruskin of the Congressional Accountability Project.

        R. Wood “Woody” Northup, the congresswoman's husband, said the concern about the FCC letter is “baloney.”

        “Do I not have the same rights as any other taxpayer to call my congressperson if I run into a bureaucratic snafu?” he asked. “I didn't ask her to do any special favors. All I did was, I wanted to get some communication between the FCC and Radio Sound. That's all I wanted, and that's what we got.”

        Ms. Northup is seeking re-election Nov. 5 against Democrat Jack Conway.

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