Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington scolded Sweeney (R-Clifton Park) for his role in the Congressional Winter Challenge, for hiring his wife to raise money for his campaign and as being too cozy with a trade group representing the boat-building industry.

The organization also suggested Sweeney's son was given preferential treatment after he was charged with assault following a brawl.

The list, part of a report entitled "Beyond DeLay," includes 17 Republicans and three Democrats. It was released on Wednesday.

By Thursday, the office of Kirsten Gillibrand, Sweeney's opponent in the race for the 20th Congressional District, had pounced.

"Even the Sweeney attack machine can't spin their way out of this one: a national report that looked at members of both parties named John Sweeney among the most corrupt congressmen in the country," spokeswoman Allison Price said in a statement.

"Considering this current Congress, that's really saying something. The communities of NY-20 deserve better."

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In response, Sweeney's campaign called the report "an attack from yet another liberal national group" and slammed Gillibrand as out of touch and reliant on "Madison Avenue executives, Hollywood actors and money from her Manhattan millionaire friends."

Campaign spokeswoman Maureen O'Brien Donovan said the "outrageous and slanderous misrepresentation of Congressman Sweeney's record is a shameless attempt to demean his record for partisan gain," going on to discredit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The Congressional Winter Challenge, which the report's authors called a "sham," is an annual event Sweeney has hosted in Lake Placid since he took office in 1999. It has dogged him for much of this year.

Designed as a means to familiarize lawmakers with the Olympic Regional Development Authority's mission and needs, the event brings legislators, their staffs, family members and lobbyists to Lake Placid, where they spend a weekend participating in events at the Olympic venues.

ORDA has received about $11 million in federal funding since the mid 1990s. Supporters of the Congressional Challenge say the event has a lot to do with that.

But a summer-long investigation by Assemblymen Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) and Paul Tonko (D-Amsterdam) said the event was no longer effective and questioned the appropriateness of using $25,000 of New York Power Authority money to pay for it.

In its report, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote, "the alleged purpose of the trip to show off the facilities to those who could help secure its funding was a sham."

The report said most of the attendees were in "no position to help ORDA."

Of the 53 attendees, at least 15 were registered lobbyists. Nine guests contributed a total of $30,000 to Sweeney's campaign, the report said.

"Essentially, Rep. Sweeney brought along friends and family for a fun-filled three-day recreational trip at the expense of New York's taxpayers," the report said.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Web site says it "targets government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests."

Its director, Melanie Sloan, is a former assistant U.S. attorney and has worked for a number of Democratic lawmakers.

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