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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John Murtha

Murtha, Visclosky, PMA, Kuchera: What's Going On?

Zachary Roth | June 15, 2009, 3:53PM

Rep. John Murtha has long been on good-government groups' lists of the most corrupt lawmakers in Washington. But in recent months, the veteran Pennsylvania Democratic powerbroker has been under particularly intense scrutiny for his ties to two companies that are each the targets of federal investigations.

So it's worth taking a moment to consider what's going on in each case, and what it all amounts to.

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PMA

Hoyer: PMA Issue "Ought To Be Looked At"

Zachary Roth | June 4, 2009, 1:50PM

Rep. Steny Hoyer wants an ethics probe of lawmakers' ties to PMA.

Yesterday, the House number two pushed through a resolution requiring the Ethics committee to disclose whether it's investigating members who took money from the now-defunct lobbying firm. And speaking at a breakfast event today, reports The Hill, Hoyer made clear that the true intent of the measure was a declaration that "this is a serious matter and ought to be looked at." He also said Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported the move.

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Pete Visclosky

Ethics Committee Must Reveal Whether It's Probing Lawmakers' Ties To PMA

Zachary Roth | June 3, 2009, 4:57PM

Drip, drip.

We should soon know whether the House Ethics committee is probing any lawmakers' ties to the now-defunct PMA lobbying group. The House has passed Rep. Steny Hoyer's resolution to force the committee to disclose the issue, reports Roll Call. The vote was 270-134.

Federal investigators are looking into whether PMA gave campaign contributions in exchange for earmarks. Two powerful Democratic lawmakers, Reps. Pete Visclosky and John Murtha have received the most scrutiny for their ties to PMA. Last week, Visclosky acknowledged that he had been subpoenaed in connection with the probe.

John Murtha

Is Ethics Panel Probing Lawmakers' PMA Ties? Hoyer Wants To Know

Zachary Roth | June 3, 2009, 2:37PM

The PMA story is starting to become a major headache for congressional Democrats.

RollCall reports that Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House number 2, plans this afternoon to offer a measure designed to force the House Ethics committee to reveal whether it's investigating senior Democratic appropriators' ties to the now-defunct lobbying firm.

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John Murtha

PMA Probe Heating Up? Visclosky Subpoenaed, While Navy Suspends Contractor Linked To Murtha

Zachary Roth | May 29, 2009, 2:16PM

Is the federal probe into the PMA Group -- the heavy-hitting lobby shop with ties to several Demcoratic powerbrokers, that folded earlier this year after being raided by the FBI -- finally coming to a boil?

Rep. Pete Visclosky of Indiana, has acknowledged in a statement that he's been subpoenaed by a grand jury in connection with the investigaiton, reports The Politico.

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John Murtha

Murtha: If Loving Constituents Is Wrong ... I Don't Wanna Be Right!

Zachary Roth | March 30, 2009, 5:25PM

Backing down isn't Rep. John Murtha's style.

The cantankerous House power-broker is under fire for his ties to the PMA lobbying firm, which just shut down amid reports of an FBI probe into its campaign contributions to friendly lawmakers, including Murtha, who have steered millions in federal earmarks to PMA clients.

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John Murtha

Flake's Call For PMA Probe Gaining Support

Zachary Roth | March 30, 2009, 3:03PM

Remember that ongoing FBI investigation of PMA, the lobbying group with close ties to Democratic power-broker Rep. John Murtha?

Well, up until now, House Democrats -- led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who's a close ally of Murtha, the powerful Defense Appropriations subcommittee chair -- have been successful on fending off GOP calls for a congressional probe of the matter. But that may be changing...

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John Murtha

With PMA Earmarks In Spending Bill, GOPer Forces Vote On Probe

Zachary Roth | February 24, 2009, 3:24PM

This could get awkward for some Democratic lawmakers.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), the small-government scourge of Congressional earmarkers, has introduced a resolution that proposes launching an ethics investigation into the connection between earmarks and campaign contributions, reports Congressional Quarterly.

Meanwhile, the House is about to vote on an omnibus spending bill that not only contains thousands of earmarks, but some for clients of the PMA Group. That's the DC-area lobbying firm that's in the process of disintegrating, amid reports that it was raided by the FBI last month as part of an investigation into its political contributions.

Which lawmakers sponsored those earmarks? CQ reports:

Flake's office released a compilation of eight earmarks worth $7.7 million in the bill. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, sent out the same list and identified the individual sponsors of the earmarks as Reps. Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana, Tim Ryan of Ohio, John B. Larson of Connecticut, Brad Sherman and Jane Harman of California, Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri. Reps. Mike Doyle and Jason Altmire , both of Pennsylvania, were identified as cosponsors of one earmark.

All but one of those earmarks is in the section of the bill written by the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which is headed by [Rep. Pete] Visclosky.

Several of those members, including Doyle, Ryan, Larsen, Altmire, and Sherman, are among the top recipients of PMA's campaign cash.

Since reports of the FBI raid on PMA, attention has largely focused on Visclosky and on Rep. John Murtha, both of whom have received large amount of money from the firm and sponsored numerous earmarks on behalf of its clients. PMA was founded by a former top Murtha aide, and a former chief of staff to Visclosky lobbied is a PMA lobbyist.

Because Flake's resolution qualifies as "privileged", lawmakers may have to vote on it as early as today.

Flake's office released a compilation of eight earmarks worth $7.7 million in the bill. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, sent out the same list and identified the individual sponsors of the earmarks as Reps. Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana, Tim Ryan of Ohio, John B. Larson of Connecticut, Brad Sherman and Jane Harman of California, Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri. Reps. Mike Doyle and Jason Altmire , both of Pennsylvania, were identified as cosponsors of one earmark.

All but one of those earmarks is in the section of the bill written by the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which is headed by Visclosky.

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.

BMW

BMW Direct Candidates Predictably Lose Elections

Kate Klonick | November 6, 2008, 4:33PM

BMW Direct, the notorious direct mail firm famous for striking fundraising deals with loser candidates -- predictably lost two of its high profile races this Tuesday.

We mentioned late last week that a BMW client, Deborah Honeycutt -- a Republican challenging Democratic incumbent Rep. David Scott in Georgia -- looked to be making a small challenge to Scott and had raised almost $4.7 million through BMW Direct, though the vast majority had gone in fees back to the company.

Well Honeycutt lost her race -- by the same margin she'd lost in 2006 -- 38 percentage points. According to FEC records, Honeycutt has spent $4.3 million this election cycle, $47 for every vote she received.

As for BMW's other high-profile loser candidate, the Republican challenger to Jack Murtha in Pennsylvania's 12th District, he lost too. Touted by Michelle Malkin as a "jaw-dropping political miracle" Russell brought in almost $2.5 million through BMW Direct -- but spent more than half of that in payments back to the direct mail firm. While he pulled tighter to Murtha at the end of the race, it was more due to the Congressman's gaffes, than any awe inspired fundraising.

One last thing about Honeycutt -- it looks like she's going to have more to deal with than just a lost election. Scott has filed a federal complaint against Honeycutt for allegedly funding sleazy fliers that called Scott the "worst black congressperson."

Special thanks to TPM Reader BK for the tip.

BMW

Murtha Challenger's Fundraising Is Less Than Meets The Eye

Kate Klonick and Zachary Roth | October 29, 2008, 3:30PM

Since Democratic Congressman John Murtha made the bone-headed move earlier this month of calling his constituents racists, the GOP has grown hopeful that it might pick up off his southwest Pennsylvania House seat.

The National Republican Campaign Committee last week spent $84,000 to run ads in support of Murtha's Republican challenger, William Russell. That prompted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to go on the air today with an ad supporting Murtha -- one of the most prominent Democrats in the House, and a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

There's no doubt that Murtha's comments have given Russell an outside shot -- this week, the respected political analyst Charlie Cook moved the race into his "Likely Democratic" category, after having previously considered it a Democratic lock.

Perhaps most significantly, Russell appears to have been raking in campaign dollars. Over the weekend, the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, Penn breathlessly reported: "When it comes to raising money, political newcomer William Russell continues to outpace his opponent, longtime U.S. Rep. John Murtha."

But it may turn out to be a steeper climb for Russell than the GOP, or some in the press, know.

As we reported in July, Russell is a client of BMW Direct. That's the Republican consulting firm whose business model appears to consist of tapping national lists of GOP donors to raise a lot of money, via direct-mail appeals, for long-shot candidates (which is exactly what Russell was before Murtha's gaffe). Then, BMW charges the candidate nearly the sum total of what it raised, for expenses related to the fundraising effort itself.

For instance, we noted in July, based on FEC filings, that Russell had raised $669,534 from April through June. That's an impressive amount -- until you consider that, after paying expenses to BMW and its various affiliates, Russell came out only $27,431 ahead.

A new look at FEC records suggests that during the July-September quarter, Russell actually walked away with an impressive haul, even after BMW took its cut. But it also shows that he was still paying the firm an unually large amount for coordinating a fundraising appeal. In that quarter, Russell raised a total of $1,592,451, but paid BMW $585,834.33, leaving him with just over a million.

And in the first half of October, Russell raised $302,938, but after paying BMW and its affiliates, was left with $81,571.

In other words, since April, Russell has technically raised over $2.5 million. But after paying BMW Direct for helping raise money, he was left with just over $1.1 million.

To be sure, $1.1 million is certainly nothing to scoff at for a little-known congressional candidate. But given that Murtha has spent over $2 million -- which presumably went to actual campaign activities, rather than self-financing fund-raising efforts -- it's less impressive than some Republicans, and some in the press, may want to believe.

And of course, whether or not Russell pulls it off, BMW will get its cut.

John Murtha

FBI Investigation of PA Pentagon Contractors Reveals More Money, Contracts

Kate Klonick | June 10, 2008, 2:05PM

What started as an FBI investigation into suspicious payments to an unconfirmed nominee for an Air Force position, has grown to include seven contracts between the Pentagon and two tax-exempt defense firms in Pennsylvania.

In 2007, the FBI began an internal investigation after an article in the Washington Post revealed that the Air Force had used Commonwealth Research Institute (CRI) to pay Charles Riechers, a senior civilian who was waiting on finalization of his White House nomination to principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition.

In October 2007, Riechers was found dead in an apparent suicide.

Since then, the scope of the federal investigation has broadened, and the FBI and Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service issued subpoenas in April to CRI and its parent company, Concurrent Technologies.

Those subpoenas are seeking information about at least seven contracts between the two non-profits and the Pentagon. From the Post:

Contracting documents obtained by The Post show that four of the contracts, worth up to $130 million, were awarded to Concurrent over several weeks in May and June 2002. Investigators also are examining a Concurrent deal in 2006 that was worth up to $45 million.

Investigators also want to know about two CRI deals, one from 2003 worth up to $10 million and another awarded without competition in 2006 that is worth up to $45 million.

All seven contracts were awarded by the Department of the Interior's National Business Center. The center has an interesting track record on non-competitive contracts:

The Pentagon has used that center for billions of dollars in purchases in recent years, though audits have found that the center often awarded contracts without competition or checks to determine whether prices were reasonable. One audit in late 2006 found that the center "routinely violated rules designed to protect U.S. Government interests."

Perhaps one more interesting twist to the story, involves the $226 million in earmarks that CRI and Concurrent have received in recent years, through Rep. John Murtha (D-PA).

Reform

Pelosi Gets Reform Bill While GOPers and Some Dems Kick and Scream

Paul Kiel | March 12, 2008, 11:23AM

Last night, the House passed an ethics reform bill, which will create an outside panel to review ethics complaints against lawmakers. It's a noted improvement over the current setup -- which isn't saying much since the House ethics committee has been a punchline for many years.

The outside panel, which will have six members (3 GOPers, 3 Dems), won't have subpoena power. And it will simply forward recommendations to the actual House ethics committee for further action after investigating. That's why some critics like CREW's Melanie Sloan call it a "paper tiger." Other good government types have given their support on the theory that something is better than nothing.

As The Hill reports, the Dem leadership pushed hard for the reform bill despite Republicans and a number of senior Democrats digging in their heels and doing what they could to prevent the vote. As The Washington Post reports, "Even with two House members under indictment, two others sent to prison, and several others under federal investigation, nearly half the House did not want to submit the body to the scrutiny of a panel not under its control." Some of the choicer quotes from last night's debate:

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS): "If you have a single ounce of self-preservation, you'll vote no."

Mighty reform foe Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): “We have a New York governor in the news right who shows that you can’t legislate ethics. It always comes down to the individual.”

And most quotable of all:

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Ted Stevens

Stevens Gets Pork Silver Medal in Senate

Paul Kiel | December 4, 2007, 2:06PM

Even with the Democrats in the majority and the FBI on his tail, he's still got it:

Senior Republican appropriators in the Senate have collected more money in earmarks than any other members of Congress, even though President Bush and GOP leaders have forcefully criticized “pork-barrel spending.”

Not only have these lawmakers defied their leaders, they have also taken a much greater share of the pot set aside for rank-and-file Republicans than have senior Democrats....

Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has collected $774 million worth of earmarks in 12 spending bills. After Cochran, Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the second-ranking Republican on Appropriations, secured more money for special projects than any other member of Congress: $502 million.

Not surprisingly, Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) took the gold in the House. And the bronze went to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who's earmarking activities are also under investigation.

Must Read

Today's Must Read

Paul Kiel | October 30, 2007, 9:53AM

With Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), what you see is what you get. He's the man who opined to The New York Times that "deal making is what Congress is all about" and called the Democrats' ethics reform bill "total crap."

And in today's profile in The Wall Street Journal, he's quoted telling an attendee at a fundraiser in Johnstown, his hometown, that bringing federal dollars there "is the whole goddamn reason I went to Washington."

And he's certainly done that:

Mr. Murtha has steered at least $600 million in earmarks to his district in the past four years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington group. The nonprofit group estimates he's sent $2 billion or more to the district since joining the appropriations committee....

His earmarks in the current bill are $166.5 million, more than any other House member, Taxpayers for Common Sense says. Mr. Murtha's spokesman did not dispute this year's total, but said without providing details that it is down by half from last year.

Of course, the important thing about those federal dollars (through defense appropriations) is that they go to his district -- certainly not whether the military wants or needs the programs that they fund. Murtha has proven something of a miracle worker, taking Johnstown from its low point in 1983 of 24% unemployment to its current healthy 5%. As John Wilke of the Journal puts it, "If John Murtha were a businessman, he'd be the biggest employer in this town." Wilke notes one Murtha-supported business in particular: "Another beneficiary: MTS Technologies, run by a man who got his start some 40 years ago shining shoes at Mr. Murtha's Johnstown Minute Car Wash."

You can take your pick as to which of Murtha's programs to pick on for waste or worthlessness, and Wilke chooses a few. But the recent firestorm over the National Drug Intelligence Center is a good case in point:

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John Murtha

Money in, Money out: Lobby Shop Works Dems

Paul Kiel | October 1, 2007, 11:16AM

Sometimes you've just gotta admire a well-oiled machine.

The PMA Group, headed by a former aide to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), have long had a simple system. Clients pump hundreds of thousands into his campaign committee, and Rep. Murtha uses his legendary porkbarreling skills to ensure PMA's clients get their millions. It worked fine while Murtha was still in the minority, and it's working great now.

Roll Call totaled (sub. req.) up the damage last month:

-- Murtha's defense appropriations subcommittee recently passed its 2008 bill. PMA clients came away with 36 earmarks -- one-third of the total projects in the bill -- worth a total of $100.5 million.

-- The three lawmakers on Murtha's committee responsible for earmarking that money -- Reps. Murtha, Jim Moran (D-VA) and Pete Visclosky (D-IN) -- are getting the expected support from PMA clients, who donated $542,350 in the first six months of this year, or 26 percent of the trio's total fundraising. Everybody's back got scratched.

And today, Roll Call reports that House intelligence committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) is getting in on the act:

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John Murtha

New Dem Rule Hits Old Dem Dealer

Paul Kiel | May 21, 2007, 1:20PM

Today Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) will introduce a motion to rebuke Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) for breaking a House rule. The charge? Rogers says that Murtha threatened to deny Rogers’ earmarks for “now and forever” in retaliation for Rogers' opposition to one of Murtha's pet projects. That's a real threat coming from Murtha, who's one of the senior appropriators in the House.

The thing is, Republicans used to do this all the time when they were in power. And that's why the Democrats instituted the new rule this January, which prohibits denying or awarding earmarks (members' targeted spending projects) based on a member's vote.

But Murtha is, if anything, a creature of the old order, a lawmaker who opined to The New York Times that "deal making is what Congress is all about" and called the Democrats' ethics reform bill "total crap." You might say that Rogers' allegation has the weight of credibility behind it. Murtha has declined to respond to the allegation, and Rogers, a former FBI agent, says he has a number of witnesses.

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George Bush

WaPo: House Dems to Block Escalation Funds

Paul Kiel | January 11, 2007, 10:37AM

What happens when Democrats seek to block funding for a troop increase that's already under way?

We're gonna find out. The Washington Post reports that House Democrats, led by the hard-charging Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), have settled on a strategy of "legislative language that could stop an escalation of troops." Or as House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) put it, "Twenty-one thousand five hundred troops ought to have 21,500 strings attached to them." It's not yet clear when they'd make their move.

As we said earlier this week, with a White House that's accustomed to ignoring limits to its power, things are liable to get very, very interesting.

Iraq

Will Bush Respect The Purse?

Paul Kiel | January 9, 2007, 3:46PM

The issue of whether Congress has the power to use the purse to direct Bush's handling of the war is pretty much settled: it does, and it has, several times in the past, as the Center for American Progress demonstrates here.

The question becomes, will Bush respect the limits Congress sets? Or will he push to escalate a war that the Congress and the American people don't want, and setting up a constitutional crisis?

The Bush White House, after all, has often claimed unprecedented executive power. This issue is no exception. "Until the Bush admininistration, no president had ever argued in writing to the Supreme Court that a statutory restriction on his war powers was unconstitutional," Georgetown Law Professor Marty Lederman told me (he expounded further on this question here and here).

“All of our understandings and practices are based on a White House that’s more compromising and accommodating than some people feel this White House will be,” Scott Lilly, a former House Appropriations staffer, told me. So what happens if Congress makes its move and Bush ignores it? Good question.

John Murtha

Murtha: We Have The Power of The Purse

Paul Kiel | January 8, 2007, 6:48PM

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), appearing just now on Hardball and gifted as always with the ability to speak plainly, couldn't have been clearer on the controversial issue as to whether Democrats have the ability to restrict the Bush administration's funding of a troop increase in Iraq.

Yesterday, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) confused the issue by claiming that it was "constitutionally questionable" whether Congress could preempt funding of Bush's desired "surge."

"No, that's not true at all," Murtha said, adding "we have every ability."

On the question of why certain Democrats were shirking from this option, he offered, "I'll tell you, it's all political."

Of course, since Murtha is the Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, it's in his power to push such a limitation on funding. We'll have more on this later on.

John Murtha

Murtha: You Got Me All Wrong

Justin Rood | November 15, 2006, 6:43PM

With one eye on the coveted House Majority Leader spot and another on reports he recently called an ethics reform effort "total crap," Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) took to Hardball tonight to say his piece.

"What I said was, it’s total crap, the idea we have to deal with an issue like this, when. . . we’ve got a war going on and we got all these other issues," Murtha told host Chris Matthews.

A Roll Call article today quoted Murtha saying of a Democratic ethics reform package, "Even though I think it’s total crap, I’ll vote for it and pass it because that’s what Nancy wants."

With Matthews, Murtha sounded a call for openness as the antidote to corruption. "Transparency. I think that’s the only way to stop it," said the 34-year House veteran, who earlier this year worked to help kill Democratic lobby reform efforts. "And I think the regulations that Nancy’s in favor of were very important. I don’t mean to imply that they aren’t."

Read more »

John Murtha

Murtha: Dem Ethics Reform Is "Total Crap"

Justin Rood | November 15, 2006, 1:36PM

Roll Call (sub. req.) reports this breaking news:

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) told a group of Democratic moderates on Tuesday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by party leaders was “total crap,” but said that he would work to enact the legislation because Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports it.

Murtha and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are locked in a battle for the House Majority Leader post, and both men made presentations for to the Blue Dog Coalition on Tuesday in a bid for their votes.

“Even though I think it’s total crap, I’ll vote for it and pass it because that’s what Nancy wants,” Murtha told the Blue Dogs, according to three sources who were at the meeting. . . .

Murtha office’s did not comment for for this article.

Update: Read the full article here.

Late Update: While Murtha did not respond to Roll Call's requests for comment, at least two Democrats have since spoken on his behalf, explaining his words were misconstrued. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Democratic strategist Flavia Colgan have appeared on cable news shows to claim Murtha's words were taken out of context.

John Murtha

Murtha and ABSCAM: What Really Happened

Justin Rood | November 15, 2006, 1:11PM

A bit of odd-named retro-muck has surfaced in the House leadership race: A 26-year-old FBI sting dubbed "ABSCAM."

The episode threatened to end the career of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who now seeks the position of House Majority Leader. He and his supporters brush off ABSCAM as old news, and accuse his opponents of lobbing baseless charges. "I am disconcerted that some are making headlines by resorting to unfounded allegations that occurred 26 years ago," Murtha himself said in a statement yesterday. "I thought we were above [that] type of Swift-boating attack."

But his detractors say it's evidence that Murtha is at best a backroom dealer, and proves he shouldn't be the face of a new, ethics-minded Congress.

But what was ABSCAM? How can anyone say it tainted Murtha -- especially since he was never charged with any crime?

ABSCAM was the media's name for an FBI undercover operation to catch corrupt lawmakers. Around 1980, agents and an informant met with several lawmakers posing as representatives of a fictional "sheik Abdul" to offer them $50,000 in cash for legislative favors. Murtha was one of the lawmakers who met with them.

Ultimately, six lawmakers went down on corruption charges stemming from the operation, nearly all of them Democrats. Murtha wasn't one of them -- but not, as Murtha implies, because his innocence was ever demonstrated.

You can see for yourself why that may have been hard to do. The American Spectator got ahold of the FBI's ABSCAM tape of its meeting with Murtha, and you can view it on the magazine's Web site. It's 53 minutes long, but a representative sample can be seen if you start at around 15:23 and watch for a few minutes.

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John Murtha

In Back Rooms, Murtha Fought Against Reform

Justin Rood | November 13, 2006, 2:55PM

So House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has thrown her weight behind Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) to be the next House Majority Leader.

Few outside of Murtha's district -- or the corridors of Washington, D.C. -- knew much of Murtha until his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War earlier this year made him a cause celebre among liberals. What else has he been up to this year? In an excellent but little-noticed piece last month, the New York Times brought us up to speed:

In the last year, Democratic and Republican floor watchers say, Mr. Murtha has helped Republicans round up enough Democratic votes to narrowly block a host of Democratic proposals: to investigate federal contracting fraud in Iraq, to reform lobbying laws, to increase financing for flood control, to add $150 million for veterans' health care and job training, and to exempt middle-class families from the alternative minimum tax.

As Murtha put it, "deal making is what Congress is all about." Yessir -- blocking fraud investigations, stonewalling lobbying reform. That's what Congress is all about, isn't it?

John Murtha

John Murtha: Meet the New Boss. . .

Justin Rood | September 21, 2006, 11:32AM

Washington has witnessed a storm of "pay-to-play" corruption scandals in Congress over the last year, both admitted and alleged. And on the campaign trail congressional Democrats are charging the GOP with creating a "culture of corruption" on their watch. Yet if they win, they are poised to hand a much-abused spending post to a Democrat with a long reputation for porkbarrel politics and "back room" deals.

If the Dems take control of the House in November, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), now lauded by Democratic activists for his tough stand on Iraq, is poised to retake the helm of an appropriations panel charged with spending hundreds of billions of dollars on defense-related projects, which he last chaired in the early 1990s. He may even ascend to be Majority Leader in a Democratically controlled House.

Yet Murtha -- who U.S. News and World Report once called "one of Capitol Hill's most accomplished masters at the art of pork" -- presides over a tightly connected network of favored lobbyists, former staffers and major campaign contributors that bears a striking resemblance to those maintained by some of the tarnished Republicans he would likely replace.

Murtha's office declined my request for comment on this article.

Take Jerry Lewis (R-CA). Under FBI investigation, Lewis -- now the chair of the entire Appropriations Committee -- until two years ago chaired the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which Murtha is in line to take over.

"They're very similar," Melanie Sloan told me. Sloan, head of the D.C.-based watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is a former federal prosecutor. "They're both using their positions to financially benefit those close to them." Her self-described "progressive" group is investigating Murtha's activities, and recently placed him on a short list of "members to watch" for possible corruption.

Murtha won his reputation by setting up a neat, closed circle of largesse, not unlike the one belonging to Lewis.

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