WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky violated House rules by allowing his wife to lobby staff members on a bill he sponsored that was related to her work, the House Ethics Committee said Thursday in a report. In the heat of a ferocious legislative battle (over the walking-horse bill) and in the midst of pursuing a righteous cause against ruthless opponents, I failed to step back and familiarize myself with the applicable rules about lobbying contacts between a lawmaker's staff and spouse. A report by an Ethics subcommittee said that while it was clear Whitfield and his wife shared similar views on animal welfare, Whitfield's failure to restrict his staff's contact with his wife "raised inferences of impropriety and suggested a special privilege" for Constance Whitfield and her employer. "The public might well wonder, upon reading the facts of this case, whether congressional spouses who are also lobbyists offer an 'inside track' to any client who can hire them," the report said.