Tuesday, November 14, 2006

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.
*****************
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.
9
Id.
10
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
11
Id.
12
Id.
13
Id.
14
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
15
Id.
16
Id.
17
Id.
18
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.
19
Id.
20
Id.
21
Id.
22
Silverstein and Simon, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005.

25 comments:

beakerkin said...

Do not hold your breath for a prosecution of Murtha. Standards are for Republicans only.

nanc said...

animal farm.

nanc said...

this just up at drudge:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter
/2006/11/abramoff_report.html

abramhoff about to spill the beans on the dhimmis - and

not up at drudge:

nanc avatar missing in action!

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Dear Tehran and Beijing,

Could you please author policies for the Democrats to champion that don't raise my taxes?

Thanks,

Mr. Beamish

Anonymous said...

That's what I like about democrats! It's all about keeping it in the family! Kinda reminds me of the S. Boston Bulger brothers.

mr. ducky... you don't happen to know Whitey Bulger, do you?

Anonymous said...

Whitey became a Boston legend. A real modern day Robbing Hood!

cube said...

Trouble is the lame stream media won't hammer this because he's a democrat. They report it once and then it become old news.

elmers brother said...

Harry Reid's children work as lobbyists

"At least 17 senators and 11 members of the House have children, spouses or other close relatives who lobby or work as consultants, most in Washington . . . . But Harry Reid is in a class by himself. One of his sons and his son-in-law lobby in Washington for companies, trade groups and municipalities seeking Reid’s help in the Senate. A second son has lobbied in Nevada for some of those same interests, and a third has represented a couple of them as a litigator. In the last four years alone, their firms have collected more than $2 million in lobbying fees from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington. So pervasive are the ties among Reid, members of his family and Nevada’s leading industries and institutions that it’s difficult to find a significant field in which such a relationship does not exist." (Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper, “In Nevada, The Name To Know Is Reid," Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2003)

Fixer Reid’s Sons And Son-In-Law Used To Lobby Reid’s Own Staff On Pending Legislation Affecting Nevada. “In an internal memo, [Reid chief of staff Susan] McCue said Reid’s family members had lobbied his staff by ‘supplying research, technical support and strategic guidance.’ She described them as ‘effective advocates for their clients.’" (Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper, “In Nevada, The Name To Know Is Reid," Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2003)

Fixer Reid Said He Saw No Problem With His Sons Lobbying His Staffers Until The Los Angeles Times Started Asking Questions. “Reid said in an interview that he sees no problem with lobbying by relatives, because lobbyists’ activities are ‘very transparent.’ . . . In September 2001, Reid sent a letter to his staff telling them that he had sought guidance from the Senate Ethics Committee and had been advised that there was no restriction on lobbying by a relative of a senator. He told his staff to treat his family members who were lobbyists no better or worse than any other lobbyist. Soon after The Times interviewed him about his children’s activities last fall, the senator decided to ban relatives from lobbying his office entirely. The ban applies to members of Reid’s family but not to colleagues at the firms where they work, such as former Sen. Bryan." (Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper, “In Nevada, The Name To Know Is Reid," Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2003)

From 2001-2002, The Law Firm Of Harry Reid’s Sons And Its Clients Identified By The Los Angeles Times Contributed Over $150,000 To Reid’s Leadership PAC In Soft Money. According to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service, Harry Reid’s leadership PAC, Searchlight Leadership Fund, received over $150,000 in unregulated and unlimited soft money from Lionel Sawyer & Collins and the entities which the Los Angeles Times found it represents. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed January 17, 2006)

Fixer Reid’s Office Eventually Instituted A Policy To Prohibit His Family Members From Lobbying His Office, AFTER Completion Of A Bill That Benefited His Family’s Clients. “Reid spokesman Tessa Hafen said Monday it was coincidence that the policy was issued after completion of the land bill." (Tony Batt, “Lobbying Congress: Senator Downplays Family Ties," Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 24, 2003)

nanc said...

this just in at drudge a few moments ago:

http://www.biblebb.com/files/pdl.ht
m

nanc said...

oops! wrong link (that was one i posted elsewhere) here's the correct link:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/
11/15/D8LDKDCO0.html

Van Helsing said...

At least now we don't have to listen to Democrats bleating about a "Culture of Corruption."

Anonymous said...

Nepotism... the great enemy of merit, raises its' ugly head and is pervasive within the beltway. You don't have to file any of those nasty disclosure statements that way!

Anonymous said...

Let's just see how Bush responds... Levin seems to think he's running things now.

...and maybe he is!

Anonymous said...

...did I mention patronage??? I mean, Tammany Hall didn't just vanish when Koch beat De Sappio...

Brooke said...

I'll bet that Culture of Corruption B.S. will fall strangely silent now that they are under the white hot lights!


Guys, watch Exposed tonight if you can! Thanks!

nanc said...

tooshay, van helsing - because now, we're so much more enlightened! yeah, because the left says it's so! yippee.

nanc said...

farmer? you tryin' to up our numbers again?

that calls for a BIG YIPPEE!

brooke - i'll try if it's on here.

elmers brother said...

sir warren then there is alcee hastings

Anonymous said...

I`m thinking we`re(the Right) doing the same thing the left did. Stirring it up, wasting time. As I recall, Murtha was cleared a long time ago. If he was guilty or innocent , it hardly begins to make sense bringing it up now. We`ve got bigger fish to fry....like barbara striesand, tony bennett,gypsy tricks,oh...and the frickin war !
-good post

Warren said...

EB, I've got some stuff on him I need to go through.

Ben, Nancy Pelosi made a statement the other day that sounded an awful lot like the one Clinton made when he came into office. She said trhat this was going to be the most ethical Congress ever.

Now lets see just what that "ethical" congress looks like.

elmers brother said...

abramhoff is fixing to roll over on at least 8 high ranking dhimmies and I heard at least one of them is Dirty Harry

Anonymous said...

warren-
ya reckon she might just hang herself(ves)?
or
get everyone killed?

Anonymous said...

EB- heard that(abramoff) too...

Warren said...

The Bens said:
"warren-
ya reckon she might just hang herself(ves)?
or
get everyone killed?"

Maybe, with a little help from us, call it assisted political sucide.

Not a single Democrat ran on any issue. It was all "The Republicans are corrupt, throw the bums out". That's why this stuff is fair game!

Anonymous said...

News flash... Steny Hoyer just got the #2 spot. Murtha's out.