The Washington Independent » pma

Feds Subpoena Dem Congressman in Defense Contractor Investigation

Mike Lillis — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:00:11 +0000

From Roxana Tiron at The Hill:

Federal law enforcement officials have subpoenaed the congressional and campaign offices of Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) to get information about a former defense lobby firm raided by the FBI, according to Visclosky.

Certain Visclosky employees have also been sent grand jury subpoenas requesting documents related to the PMA Group, a lobby shop with strong ties to the Indiana lawmaker. Visclosky’s former chief of staff, Rich Kaelin, was a high-profile lobbyist at the firm that closed its doors at the end of March.

PMA is under investigation for allegedly steering lobbying dollars to candidates — notably to Reps. Visclosky, John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) — through “straw man” donors, some of whom claim they’ve never heard of PMA.

Adding intrigue to this saga, PMA’s founder is former House Appropriations Committee aide Paul Magliocchetti, who has close ties to Murtha, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Jack Murtha’s Got That PMA

Spencer Ackerman — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:16:27 +0000

Two weeks ago, a Pentagon official thought aloud to me about how the defense industry would resist President Obama’s attempts at procurement and acquisition reform. The “ground game,” this official said, would rely on defense-reliant members of Congress. For a baroque example of how this works, don’t miss The Washington Post’s piece on Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), who heads the defense subcommittee in House Appropriations. And he’s, uh, well-compensated for it:

A Pennsylvania defense research center regularly consulted with two “handlers” close to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) as it collected nearly $250 million in federal funding through the lawmaker, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and sources familiar with the funding requests. The center then channeled a significant portion of the funding to companies that were among Murtha’s campaign supporters.

The cut-out in question appears to be a lobbying firm called PMA, which is under federal investigation. PMA’s clients got $299 million in defense earmarks in last year’s budget, and by pure coincidence, they and the firm routed $775,000 to Murtha for his reelection campaign last year. Funny how that works.

Democrats’ Earmark Rules Bite Democrats

Mike Lillis — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:19:36 +0000

Congressional Democrats are learning the tough way that transparency in the legislative process has its pitfalls.

CQ is reporting today that 104 House members — nearly a quarter of the lower chamber — secured earmarks in a 2008 defense spending bill for clients of a single lobbying firm with strong ties to powerhouse appropriator Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

All told, the House lawmakers (“plus a handful of senators”) funneled nearly $300 million in federal contracts to companies represented by The PMA Group, CQ found.

Murtha, who used to boast that his middle initial stands for “power,” carved out $38.1 million for PMA clients in the fiscal 2008 defense spending law, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Indiana Rep. Peter J. Visclosky , who serves on Murtha’s subcommittee and additionally is chairman of the subcommittee that allocates money for the Pentagon’s nuclear programs, earmarked $23.8 million for PMA clients in the fiscal 2008 defense spending bill.

His former chief of staff, Richard Kaelin, lobbies for PMA, as does Melissa Koloszar, a former top aide to defense appropriator James P. Moran , D-Va.

Moran sponsored $10.8 million for PMA clients, and Rep. Norm Dicks , D-Wash., another member of the subcommittee, sponsored $12.1 million.

And, this being Washington, that type of earmarking doesn’t come without reciprocity. Indeed, CQ calculated that, since 2001, those 104 House members have taken in “a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from PMA’s political action committee and employees of the firm.” Of that sum, CQ found, Visclosky took in $219,000, Murtha represents $143,600, Moran pulled in $125,250 and Dicks tallied $91,600.

But wait, it gets better. Because The PMA Group’s founder is Paul Magliocchetti, “a former House Appropriations Committee aide who has a long-running relationship with Murtha, D-Pa., the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee,” CQ writes.

There’s more. The FBI raided PMA earlier this month on suspicion that the group has donated illegally to the campaigns of Murtha and other lawmakers. As CQ pointedly notes:

No matter what the outcome of the federal investigation, PMA’s earmark success illustrates how a well-connected lobbying firm operates on Capitol Hill. And earmark accountability rules imposed by the Democrats in 2007 make it possible to see how extensively PMA worked the Hill for its clients.

Damn you, transparency!

Update: CQ has published a handy chart identifying the House members and showing how much money they received in campaign contributions from PMA, and how much money they secured in earmarks for PMA’s clients. Is your representative on the list?