John Murtha

Murtha Taking Devil May Care Attitude To Corruption Probes

Zachary Roth | July 27, 2009, 2:12PM

The Feds may be circling uncomfortably close to Rep. John Murtha as they probe kickbacks to defense contractors and possible earmarks-for-campaign-cash deals. But the veteran Democratic power-broker doesn't seem to be sweating it. In fact, he's acting as defiant as ever.

A Murtha spokesman tells TPMmuckraker that the Pennsylvania congressman has not hired a lawyer in connection with the investigations.

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John Murtha

FBI Getting Closer To Murtha?

Zachary Roth | July 21, 2009, 11:45AM

Is the noose tightening around John Murtha?

For months now, the Pennsylvania Democratic power-broker's name has been popping up in connection to a wide-ranging FBI investigation of defense contractors and lobbyists to whom he has ties. And yesterday brought more bad news...

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Defense Contractors

Book: Rumsfeld Didn't Cut Weapons Programs Because Of 'His Own Financial Situation'

Justin Elliott | June 30, 2009, 6:45PM

Here's an intriguing detail from the new 685-page tome on Donald Rumsfeld, Bradley Graham's By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld: Several Rumsfeld associates say the defense secretary didn't order any cuts of major weapons programs early in his tenure because of financial stakes he held in the defense business.

Rumsfeld valued his personal fortune at between $50 to $210 million at the beginning of the Bush Administration. The problem was many of the securities he held were in companies that did business with the DOD, which could put Rumsfeld in violation of government ethics rules.

So Rumsfeld had to divest some of these assets -- a whole lot of them, it turned out. And during that process, which went "slowly," Graham reports, Rumsfeld simply put off canceling any major weapons programs, a move some on his staff apparently expected him to make. Rumsfeld's specific thinking is unclear.

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Defense Contractors

Blackwater Is Dead! Long Live ... Xe?

Zachary Roth | February 13, 2009, 5:06PM

This should do the trick.

Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor that emerged over the last few years as Exhibit A for ugly Americans in Iraq, has decided that the best response is to ... change its name.

And check out the name they picked: "Xe." (Apparently it's pronounced like the letter 'Z.' Raising the question: Why not just call it "Z"?)

They've also renamed Blackwater Lodge & Training Center, the subsidiary that does much of their controversial overseas operations. It's now the "U.S. Training Center Inc." (Which doesn't exactly mesh with "Xe," but whatever.)

According to the Associated Press, Blackwater (or should we say "Xe"?) president Gary Jackson said in a memo to employees, announcing the changes, that they reflect a shift in the company's focus away from private security and toward operating training facilities around the world.

You can see how "Xe" would be the obvious name to reflect such a shift.

It's not hard to guess why Blackwater (or wait, Xe) wants to get out of the private security business. In 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire in a Baghdad square, killing 17 Iraqis. Five ex-Blackwater guards were charged with voluntary manslaughter and are awaiting trial.

And recently, thanks largely to that incident and other cases where Blackwater has been accused of using excessive force, the Iraqi government declined to renew the company's contract to operate in the country. Soon after, the State Department announced that, in any case, it wouldn't renew Blackwater's contract to operate in Iraq.

No word yet on whether Iraq and State will reconsider now that that the company is called "Xe."

FBI

"The Majority's Waterloo On Ethics"? Taking Stock Of the PMA Lobbying Probe

Zachary Roth | February 13, 2009, 2:56PM

Earlier this week, Keith Ashdown of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, told The Hill that one troubled lobbying firm with ties to some Democratic lawmakers, "will become the majority's Waterloo on ethics."

Ashdown added: "If they do not tackle this example head-on they will look as bad as the Republicans on ethics in government."

Sounds serious! So it's worth taking a broad look at what Ashdown's talking about.

The firm under scrutiny here is the PMA Group, which was founded back in 1989 by Paul Magliocchetti, a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha.

It hasn't been a good week for the firm. On Monday, ABC News reported that, back in November, the FBI had raided the firm's northern Virginia office. The following day, the New York Times revealed that investigators were probing the possibility that Magliocchetti had funneled campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers, in a quid pro quo arrangement. And the same day, The Hill added that the firm was "disintegrating," with several senior lobbyists leaving after being unable to strike a buyout deal with Magliocchetti.

PMA specializes in representing defense firms looking for federal money. And its employees are prodigious political contributors. Over the last three election cycles, they've given a total of more than $1 million to political campaigns, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics

And at the top of its list of recipients over the last two decades are two Democratic lawmakers who sit on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee: Murtha of Pennsylania, Rep. Pete Visclosky of Indiana.

Murtha appears to be most closely implicated. Aside from Magliocchetti, at least one other former Murtha aide, Julie Giardina, also works at PMA. And Dan Cunningham, another PMA staffer, is a former Hill aide who has a close relationship with Murtha, according to The Hill.

Roll Call found earlier this week that, over the last three election cycles, Murtha had received around $1.75 million from PMA and its clients. Last fall, when Murtha faced an unexpected re-election challenge after calling his constituents racist, PMA and its clients came to his aid, contributing $110,000 to Murtha's last-minute fundraising effort.

What did PMA get from Murtha? Roll Call also found that in the last two years, Murtha has steered earmarks totaling around $93 million to PMA clients.

It's also worth noting that a second company linked to Murtha, defense contractor Kuchera Indstries, was raided by the FBI in January. Over the years, Murtha has funneled over $100 million in earmarks to the firm and a related company.

It's not hard to see why Ashdown told Roll Call: "This investigation is moving in the direction of Jack Murtha."

As for Murtha's friend Visclosky, he too has personal ties to PMA. Rich Kaelin, a PMA lobbyist, was Visclosky's chief of staff in 2003.

Visclosky has raked in $196,950 from donors with ties to the firm. PMA has been Visclosky's top donor every year since 2004. And the Post-Tribune of Lake County, Indiana has found that in 2008, the congressman secured more than $20 million in earmarks for the firm's clients -- a quarter of the total earmarks he got.

So that's what we've got. So far, there's no evidence that either Murtha or Visclosky are themselves are focuses of the investigation. What this amounts to, at the moment, is a firm contributing alot of money to certain lawmakers with authority over the sphere it works in -- as well as hiring some of their former aides -- and getting earmarks from those lawmakers.

That's not evidence of a quid pro quo. But it doesn't look good, especially given the president's call for a new kind of politics. And something tells us we haven't heard the last of it.

John Murtha

Report: Feds Raided a Second Murtha-Linked Company

Zachary Roth | February 10, 2009, 10:53AM

Could the Feds be closing in on Jack Murtha?

Late last month, federal agents raided the offices of a Pennsylvania defense contractor with close ties to the longtime Democratic congressman.

And now, ABC News has reported that, back in November, the FBI raided the Virginia headquarters of a lobbying firm founded by a former Murtha aide.

The firm, known as the PMA Group, specializes in winning earmarks for its clients.
ABC reports that last year, "it brought in $13.8 million in revenue representing dozens of defense companies and contractors, many of which have donated heavily to Murtha." Murtha has helped the firm win millions in earmarks, according to ABC. And much of PMA's business comes from small defense contractors based in Murtha's district.

The former Murtha aide who founded the firm, Paul Magliochetti, has reportedly been talking to his colleagues about an arrangement that would see him leave. Reports ABC:

Asked whether these discussions were related to the raid, [a PMA spokesman] declined to comment.

And another former Murtha aide, Julie Giardina, also works at PMA.

Last month, the FBI and IRS raided the offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems. Murtha has reportedly channeled $100 million in earmarks to those companies.

A spokesman for Murtha denied that his boss had been contacted by the FBI, and said the congressman did not believe he was a target of the investigation.

Still, something tells us we haven't heard the last of this.

Late Update: The Hill reports that PMA is "disintegrating", with several of its top lobbyists telling colleages and associates they plan to leave and start a new firm.

And it looks like the issue of PMA founder and former Murtha aide Paul Magliocchetti's continuing presence at PMA is at the center of the move:

The lobbyists resigned from PMA last Friday after they were unable to strike a buyout deal with Paul Magliocchetti, the founder of PMA Group, who indicated earlier this year he wanted to retire.

The new group is called Flagship Government Relations and is being billed as a business development and lobbying firm, The Hill has learned.

The paper adds:

Among those who are starting the new consultancy are Kaylene Green, a former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer and congressional Navy liaison; Sean Fogarty, a former Senate Navy liaison; Rich Efford, a longtime appropriations staffer who worked for former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.); and Dan Cunningham, who served as the director for the Army's congressional liaison team and has a close relationship with Murtha, according to multiple K Street sources.

John Murtha

FBI Raids Defense Contractor Linked To Murtha

Zachary Roth | January 22, 2009, 6:34PM

Local media in western Pennsylvania is reporting that FBI agents have raided the offices of a defense contractor in the area, which has received millions of dollars in earmarks at the request of earmark king Rep. John Murtha (D-PA).

According to The Hill, picking up on the local reports, Murtha engineered $8.2 million in federal defense earmarks last year on behalf of the company, Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems.

A local TV station adds that the IRS was also involved in the raid, and that Bill Kuchera's home and "game preserve," a 161,00 acre property, were raided as well.

The report also notes, intriguingly, that signs on the property call it a "U.S. government test facility."

In recent years the politically active company has given Murtha more than $56,000 in contributions, according to The Hill. And CEO Bill Kuchera served on the board of a non-profit founded by a former Murtha aide.

The paper adds:

Kuchera has several Pentagon contracts that could be worth more than $100 million over a decade, including parts used in air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, and robots used in dangerous war zones to patrol vehicles for booby traps and bombs.

Murtha's career was nearly derailed in the 1980's after he was caught on tape telling an undercover FBI agent he might want money for his district in exchange for legislative favors -- and he regularly appears on good-government groups' lists of the most corrupt members of Congress.

Brent Wilkes

Wilkes Expected To Leave Prison Today, Pending Appeal

Zachary Roth | January 6, 2009, 6:53PM

Brent Wilkes, the former defense contractor who's serving a jail sentence for bribing former GOP congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, is expected to leave prison today, reports the San Diego-area North County Times .

Says the paper:

On Monday, a federal judge signed the order allowing Wilkes to leave prison on bail while he appeals his conviction for the bribery of the ex-North County Republican lawmaker. As of this morning, however, the 54-year-old remained behind bars at Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in Los Angeles County.

This has been in the works for a while. Back in March, an appeals court ruled, in the words of the North County Times, "that his appeal raises such a substantial question of law or fact that it could lead the appeals court to overturn his conviction, force a new trial or order a punishment that would include no jail time."

As a result, the court ruled that Wilkes could leave jail while conducting his appeal -- as long as he could make bail.

For a while, he couldn't. Wilkes' properties depreciated in value thanks to the housing slump, which hit southern California hard. But on Monday, a judge ruled that properties' value was enough to ensure that he would show up for future hearings, and that he doesn't pose a flight risk.

His lawyer said in an email to the paper that she hopes Wilkes will be home with his family by tonight.

Wilkes is currently serving 12 years in federal prison for bribery, conspiracy, fraud, and wiretapping. Prosecutors argued he bribed Cunningham with prostitutes and lavish vacations, among other items of value.

Erik Prince

Blackwater Guards Targeted by Justice Department

Kate Klonick | August 18, 2008, 10:06AM

The Justice Department appears one step closer to prosecution of Blackwater security guards involved in the Nisoor square shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, after reportedly sending six employees target letters earlier this summer. The high likelihood of indictment of a few "bad apple" Blackwater security guards, rather than the company itself, has been expected since early May.

From the Washington Post:

Anne E. Tyrell, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Blackwater, said that the company believes the guards fired their weapons "in response to a hostile threat" and is monitoring the investigation closely.

"If it is determined that an individual acted improperly, Blackwater would support holding that person accountable," Tyrell said in a statement. "But at this stage, without being able to review evidence collected in an ongoing investigation, we will not prejudge the actions of any individual. The company is cooperating fully with ongoing investigations and believes that accountability is important."

Blackwater has maintained that its men acted in self-defense, though an Iraqi investigation found that the guards had been unprovoked.

Duke Cunningham

Brent Wilkes' Anonymous Bondsman Thwarted By Ruling

Kate Klonick | July 29, 2008, 9:30AM

Brent Wilkes' "Secret Benefactor" will have to make himself known if he wants to help the convicted former-defense contractor make bail, a federal judge said Monday.

You might remember that we posted a few weeks back about an anonymous ally's guarantee on the balance of the $1.4 million Wilkes needed to make bail pending appeal. But there was a catch-- the benefactor wouldn't post unless his identity could be kept a secret-- so Wilkes' attorneys went to court to try to hide the man's identity.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The man willing to make up the shortfall could lose his job if his name is linked to Wilkes, said lawyer Robert Rexrode, who is representing Wilkes for free.

"This is it," he said in court. "It's not going to happen if the name is public."

Rexrode wouldn't say what the man does for a living but said that the public attention that Wilkes has drawn "makes it difficult for past business associates to come forward."

Judge Larry Burns said he was willing to keep certain financial details private, but not the man's name.

"This person ... has to step up and stand here with Mr. Wilkes," Burns said.

Curt Weldon

Weldon Took Trip Paid For By Russian, Serbian Moguls

Andrew Tilghman | July 18, 2008, 5:39PM

Wouldn't it be great if we could all take long, leisurely European vacations with our whole extended family -- and have the $23,000 tab paid for by Russian and Eastern European business moguls?

Unfortunately, it seems that former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) is among the only ones who actually gets to do that.

Ken Silverstein over at Harper's digs into the details of Weldon's January 2007 trip with ten family members (including his son's girlfriend and his daughter's boyfriend). They stopped in Moscow and Vienna (not cheap cities).

We're not sure the trip has anything to do with Weldon's new arms trafficking business. But there's a couple of interesting things to point out.

First, Weldon asked the notoriously lax House ethics committee for formal permission to take the trip before he went. He offered the lame explanation that the Russians and Serbs were paying for his trip because he was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and it had nothing to do with his House seat.

But when he got the sense the committee wasn't buying that argument, he "withdrew" his request for a waiver on the gift rules.

In other words: Weldon apparently didn't get the answer he wanted, so he simply ignored the committee's advice and ethics rules and went anyway, with the tab being picked up by outside sponsors.

And here's another key aspect of the trip: the Serbian family who paid for part of it was the Karic Group, run by the Karic family, which is barred from entering the U.S. due to its close ties with the warmongering Milosevic regime.

That's the same Serbian group who just a few months later hired Weldon's inexperienced 29-year-old daughter to lobby for then to the tune of $240,000 a year.

The Weldon family sure is living the American dream.

Curt Weldon

Defense Solutions Gets Defensive About Forgery Allegations

Kate Klonick | July 8, 2008, 2:10PM

We've previously followed some of Sharon Weinberger's coverage at Wired on former Representative Curt Weldon's ties to shady arms-dealings. Weldon, a defeated Republican from Pennsylvania was employed as Chief Strategic Officer for Defense Solutions after losing his election in November 2006.

Lost in the holiday weekend traffic was a Wired story on the Pennsylvania based arm dealer's multiple contracts, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to corner the supplier market from Eastern Bloc countries to to Iraq. The deals, which the magazine describes as "often legally murky" were brokered by Weldon, who is currently under investigation by the FBI for corruption stemming from his work in Congress.

In an update yesterday, Weinberger expanded on Defense Solution's claim that they had an exclusive deal with Ukraine to supply their armored vehicles to Iraq. The boast was bolstered by a signed letter from Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andri Veselovsky, to the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Stephan Minikes.

Defense Solution's CEO, Tim Ringgold, bandied the letter about as proof of their relationship -- that is until Veselovsky told Wired the letter was a fake, and that it wasn't his signature. Now Ringgold seems to be taking it all back.

In an update on Weinberger's Wired blog DANGER ROOM:

Timothy Ringgold, the CEO of Defense Solutions wrote DANGER ROOM to express some objections with this post. His letter, with our answers, follows......

Ringgold writes: Your article of July 7, 2008 11:07 a.m. has a number of significant inaccuracies, not he least of which deals with your allegation of forgery:
As I informed you during our phone conversation, I have no knowledge of a "letter" from Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister, but I am aware of an email dated February 25, 2008 received from the Deputy Foreign Minister. Since I spoke with the Deputy Foreign Minister after receiving it, I think it safe to conclude the email was genuine.
[DR: The forgery allegation is not ours; it is Veselovsky's. He stated quite clearly it is not his signature on the letter. When asked about the Veselovsky letter during the interview, Ringgold acknowledged it, until he was told the Veselovsky denied signing it.]