WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said if there is a problem with members of Congress illegally using official resources and staff for political campaigns, then it should be investigated.

But Abercrombie said he knew of no ongoing Justice Department investigation into the illegal use of staff and resources of his or anyone else's offices.

"I can't imagine why anybody would do such a thing," Abercrombie said. "You don't gain anything and you risk enormous difficulty — legal, political and everything else."

A government watchdog group this week asked the House ethics committee to investigate whether House members are improperly using taxpayer-paid staff time and materials for re-election activities. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was responding to published reports that a former Abercrombie staffer was providing the Justice Department with information about such misuse.

Laura I. Flores 47, of Arlington, Va., who pleaded guilty to embezzling from House office accounts in January, was sentenced last week to six months in prison and two years of supervised probation. She also was ordered to pay $200 a month in restitution after her release, according to U.S. District Court documents.

She faced a much tougher sentence but had it reduced in return for her cooperation in a Justice Department investigation centering on House members using official resources and staff for their campaigns, according to The Washington Post.

Flores split her work time among Abercrombie, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., from 2005 to 2006, when the thefts occurred. While working for the lawmakers, she embezzled more than $169,000, according to court documents.

Flores could have been sentenced to a maximum of 27 months in prison and a fine up to $337,000.

Abercrombie also took exception to the allegations that come from unidentified sources in The Washington Post reports, saying that if they exist, "None of us know that."

To stay inside House ethics guidelines, Abercrombie said he splits his campaign and congressional office functions completely.

"Nobody in my (official) office in Honolulu or Washington is responsible for my campaigns," he said. "People in my (official) office help with my campaigns, but they do so on their own time and they are scrupulous about that. It's not hard to do."

Abercrombie said he doesn't make campaign calls from his office telephone and the campaign account pays for the only cell phone he uses. He said he also uses separate accountants to handle his campaign and his personal financial business.

Campaign calls are made either on the cell phone or in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee offices outside of the House office buildings and the Capitol, Abercrombie said.

But officials at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington think there are enough cases for the House ethics committee to open an investigation.

The group cites the reports of the Justice Department investigation as well as previous incidents, including allegations from former congressional staffers for U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., that they were forced to work on campaign matters during office hours in 2006.

The group also said similar allegations were made by former staffers for U.S. Reps. David Scott, D-Ga., and Gary Miller, R-Calif.

The group said it has sent 10 ethics complaints to the House ethics committee since 2006 but none has been taken up.

"Once again, a major scandal is brewing on Capitol Hill and the House ethics committee is sitting it out," said Melanie Sloan, executive director for the group. "The question is when, if ever, the ethics committee is going to prove itself more than a paper tiger."

Abercrombie said that if the group knew of any cases of illegal use of staff and resources, "they should report them not just to the ethics committee but the FBI and prosecutors."

"We did," he said. "The second we found out there was something wrong (with Flores' handling of the office accounts), we immediately called the general counsel of the House and the FBI."

Abercrombie spent $823,000 for his 2006 re-election campaign but only about $5,000 on campaign staff.

He said he runs his campaign with "masses of volunteers" and paid campaign consultants to take care of everything else. "Of course, people on my staff work ... but they take time off," he said.

Abercrombie also said he has never asked his staff to do anything on his campaigns, but they volunteer and he is proud to have them do it.

"We're especially careful to make sure that every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed for precisely this kind of reason."