Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) apologized late Tuesday for calling an aide to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “a K Street whore— in a radio interview.

“I offer my sincere apology to Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke,— Grayson said in a statement. “I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women.

“This characterization of Ms. Robertson, made during a radio interview last month in the context of the debate over whether the Federal Reserve should be independently audited, was inappropriate, and I apologize.—

Grayson had ripped Robertson as a former lobbyist for Enron Corp., although her most recent job was at Johns Hopkins University.

Grayson has defiantly refused to apologize for other recent statements, including a floor speech in which he said Republicans want people to “die quickly— if they get sick.