More on Murtha

From, .beyonddelay.org a Liberal leaning watchdog group.

REP. JOHN MURTHA
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is a 17th-term member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. Rep. Murtha’s ethics violations stem from abuse of his position as Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to benefit the lobbying firm of a former long-term staffer and clients of his brother, Robert “Kit” Murtha, a registered lobbyist.

PMA Group

Paul Magliocchetti worked with Rep. Murtha as a senior staffer on the Defense appropriations subcommittee for 10 years.1 After leaving the committee, Mr. Magliocchetti founded the PMA Group, which has become one of the prominent Washington, D.C. defense lobbying firms. In the current campaign cycle, the PMA Group and 11 of the firm’s clients rank in the top 20 contributors to Rep. Murtha, having made campaign contributions totaling $274,649.2 In the 2004 and 2002 cycles, PMA and nine of the firm’s clients ranked in the top 20 contributors having made $236,7993 in contributions and $279,074, respectively.4

In turn, many of PMA’s clients have benefited significantly from Rep. Murtha’s earmarks. In the 2006 Defense appropriations bill, PMA clients received at least 60 earmarks at a total of $95.1 million.5

Robert “Kit” Murtha
KSA Consulting is a lobbying firm hired by defense contractors in the hopes of securing funding from the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.6
The firm was retained by most of its clients after Rep. Murtha’s brother, Kit Murtha, joined the firm in 2002.7
Mr. Murtha joined the firm at the invitation of top KSA official Carmen Scialabba, who had worked for Rep. Murtha on the House Appropriations Committee for 27 years.8
Mr. Murtha’s first client at KSA was AEPTEC Miscrosystems, Inc., a wireless networking company based in Maryland that was seeking a grant from the State of Pennsylvania to fund construction of a new business complex in Rep. Murtha’s district.9
Notably, AEPTEC donated more than $12,000 to Rep. Murtha’s reelection campaign in 2002.10
Mr. Murtha successfully lobbied the state for a $1.5 million grant to build the complex.11
Although Mr. Murtha has claimed that his brother played no role in helping secure that funding, in an April 2004 press release, Rep. Murtha claimed credit for “introducing AEPTEC to the opportunities” in Pennsylvania and several of the Congressman’s staff attended groundbreaking
ceremonies for construction of the complex.12
Two months later, as part of a defense appropriations bill, Rep. Murtha’s subcommittee
approved a $4.2 million appropriation for an AEPTEC wireless network that supported the Aegis cruiser program. KSA founder, chief executive and lead lobbyist Ken Stalder lobbied Rep. Murtha to obtain the earmark.13
In 2004, Congress passed a $417 billion defense appropriations bill that went through Rep. Murtha’s subcommittee.14
The bill benefited at least 10 companies represented by KSA and KSA lobbied Rep. Murtha’s office directly on behalf of seven of those companies, which received a total $20.8 million in earmarks.15
For example, Arkansas based Cal-Zark won $1.7 million -- more than tripling the firm’s 2004 sales -- after KSA’s founder and head lobbyist, Ken Stalder, joined Cal-Zark officials on a trip to lobby Rep. Murtha’s office.16
KDH Defense Systems was awarded $2.6 million and soon thereafter, opened a body armor plant and moved its headquarters into Rep. Murtha’s district.17
Mobilvox Inc, which received $1.7 million,18
held a press conference with Rep. Murtha to announce the opening of a new Pennsylvania office shortly before the bill passed.19
Mr. Murtha and one of his staff, Jack Frank, attended Mobilvox’s new office open house in 2005.20

Other KSA clients that received earmarks include Applied Ordnance Technnology Inc., which received $3.4 million; ChemImage Corp., which received $3.5 million;21
and Mountaintop Technologies Inc., which received $1 million.22


5 U.S.C. §7353 and House Rules
A provision of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, 5 U.S.C. §7353, prohibits members of the House, officers, and employees from asking for anything of value from a broad range of people,
including “anyone who seeks official action from the House, does business with the House, or has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance of official duties.
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1
See
2
PMA Lobbying Disclosure Report for 2006 cycle; www.opensecrets.com. (Exhibit 1)
3
PMA Lobbying Disclosure Report for 2004 cycle; www.opensecrets.com. (Exhibit 2)
4
PMA Lobbying Disclosure Report for 2002 cycle; www.opensecrets.com. (Exhibit 3)
5
Roxana Tiron, Hill Ties Reap Rewards for Top Defense Firms, The Hill, June 15, 2006.
(Exhibit 4)
6
Ken Silverstein and Richard Simon, Lobbyist Brother Guided House Bill, The Los
Angeles Times, June 13, 2005. (Exhibit 5)
7
Id.; Kit Murtha is no longer with KSA. See www.ksaconsulting.net/profiles.htm.
8
Id.
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10
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
11
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14
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
15
Id.
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18
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
19
Id.
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22
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.