Jack Murtha’s Got That PMA
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
Jul 31, 20202.1K Shares210.7K Views
Two weeks ago, a Pentagon official thought aloud to meabout 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 pieceon 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 (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.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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