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National Democrats launched a television ad Wednesday linking Republican Tim Bee to his brother's school bus company.

The company, owned by Keith Bee, faced criticism in a 2006 audit for providing "substandard performance" to children at Phoenix-area homeless schools.

Saying his involvement in the company has been limited to helping with payroll, Bee quickly condemned the ad. And in a rare political move, so did his Democratic congressional opponent, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Meanwhile, Keith Bee, as well as an embattled official in Maricopa County, rushed to counter the specific issues raised in what they called a biased audit crafted in the midst of a dramatic, complicated squabble between school and county officials there.

The 30-second spot, put out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, shows grainy images of children going in and out of school buses and quotes an internal Maricopa County audit. It notes Bee Line Transportation delivered students home late, had an insufficient number of trained drivers and was using older non-air-conditioned buses — points Keith Bee disputes.

Tim Bee, outgoing president of the state Senate, declined to address specifics in the ad, stressing he has no stake or current involvement in his brother's company. Therefore, he said, it shouldn't even be discussed in his race against Giffords.

"They're bringing up something that has no relation to this campaign," Bee said in an interview. "It's going after my family."

Unlike what the ad implies, Bee is not an owner of the company, founded by Keith Bee, a Pima County justice of the peace and former state senator.

But even so, Tim Bee has long touted his involvement in Bee Line Transportation during his eight-year career in state politics. As recently as 2006, Bee called himself a "partner" in the company in answer to a Star candidate questionnaire. A Star story in 2001 said he had helped double the size of the company.

But on Thursday he and his campaign questioned the accuracy of those statements and said he only did payroll for the bus company.

"My name has never appeared on any ownership documents of that company — ever," Bee said.

Moreover, Keith Bee said in an interview Thursday that the 2006 Maricopa County audit made false accusations about his company.

The Democrats are quoting from an audit of the Maricopa County Regional School District, which Bee Line contracted with starting in 2000. Bee Line served four schools in the Phoenix area that were geared to children from homeless families, said Sandra Dowling, Maricopa County school superintendent.

Both Keith Bee and Dowling blamed the negative audit, which also targeted other vendors, on county officials wanting to shut down the schools because of a fight over an expensive piece of downtown Phoenix property on which one school sat. The fight eventually ended in the closing of the schools and Dowling was indicted on 25 felony counts of theft and misuse of money — counts that were later dropped.

She's now suing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for $1.75 million because he sent a SWAT team with helicopters to raid her home.

"They wanted to try to discredit the program and get the land," Dowling said Thursday.

She said the quality of the Bee Line service — which was obtained through an open bid — was superior to the previous provider, Laidlaw. And Dowling said Keith Bee would sometimes provide service to field trips free of charge.

As for Tim Bee's involvement, Dowling said, "I never dealt with Tim. ... He was never involved in the company from what I know of."

Back in Tucson, Giffords — who has stopped short of condemning previous negative ads by outside groups — said in a statement that she was disappointed by the ad.

At the same time, she also took a shot at Bee, saying, "I am disappointed that Tim Bee and his campaign allies have repeatedly tried to distort my record, and I'm equally disappointed in this recent TV ad sponsored by the DCCC."

But despite Giffords' statement, Bee's campaign spokes-man still sought to link the production of the ad to Giffords. "It's her team that put together the hit on Bee's family," said spokesman Tom Dunn.

Bee has run his own attack ads, though, accusing Giffords of pulling money for troops in combat and wanting to allow captured terrorists to be tried in court — claims that distort her actual record.

The Democrats' latest ad follows another that included red hearts linking Bee with President Bush, saying Bee "loves" Bush and is "out for himself."

Asked if the ad would be removed per Giffords' request, DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell responded through e-mail: "Congresswoman Giffords is an independent voice for her district. The DCCC's independent expenditure is legally walled off so members and their campaigns cannot collaborate with them."