Flake Won’t Give Up on PMA

By Susan Crabtree, The Hill

March 18, 2009

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), an avid opponent of pork-barrel spending, offered his fourth resolution Tuesday that would force the ethics committee to investigate the relationship between earmark requests and campaign contributions.

The previous three privileged resolutions have been killed. But each time, more lawmakers have voted with Flake against tabling the measure.

Flake’s latest version includes a review of earmarks to the disbanded PMA lobbying firm and campaign contributions made by Paul Magliochetti, the firm’s founder, and his relatives.

The ethics committee would be required to report its findings to the full House within two months. As with all privileged resolutions offered by rank-and-file members, the House has two days to consider the measure on the floor.

In the previous version, Flake’s resolution required the ethics panel to investigate earmark requests made on behalf of PMA and campaign contributions the firm made to lawmakers.

Several vulnerable Democratic members voted with Flake against tabling that resolution, including Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), an Appropriations Committee cardinal who has received the most campaign contributions from PMA Group’s political action committee (PAC) and the firm’s employees of anyone in Congress.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics’ database of campaign contributions, Visclosky has received $271,000 from PMA Group PAC and the firm’s employees since 1989, when the firm was founded. The Indiana lawmaker has secured millions of dollars in earmarks for some of the firm’s clients.

Since news of the FBI raid on PMA’s offices broke, Visclosky has pledged to give back all of the donations and has called on Democratic leaders to open an ethics inquiry into the firm’s questionable activity.

Democratic leaders have yet to comment about the need for an ethics inquiry into the matter.

In recent weeks, media reports have scrutinized Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) ties to PMA Group. Magliochetti is a former staffer on the Appropriations Defense subcommittee and worked with Murtha. Murtha has directed millions of dollars in earmarks to PMA clients.

Murtha has received $167,400 in donations from PMA Group and its employees since 1989. He has declined to comment about Flake’s resolution. A spokesman said Murtha was not the recipient of any fraudulent PMA campaign contributions.

The firm also cut checks to a number of House Democratic leaders as well as members on both sides of the aisle of the powerful Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), for instance, has received $168,700 from PMA Group PAC and its employees since 1989. The firm’s offices were located in his district.

Moran said he’s not concerned about becoming ensnared in the federal investigation and does not feel the need to return the contributions or donate them to charity.

“I’ve been around long enough that this is all part of the rough-and-tumble of politics,” he said.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who chairs Appropriation’s Interior subcommittee, also has received a substantial sum from PMA Group PAC and its employees: $130,250.

His office did not return a call.

Other top recipients of PMA cash among Democratic leaders and the Appropriations panel include: Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), who took in $69,620; Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), who accepted $63,984; Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), who accepted $61,809; and Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.), who took in $42,300, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Republican elected leaders received less than a combined $1,000 in campaign contributions from PMA Group PAC and its employees, while Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) received $37,991 and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accepted $4,500 since 1989.

Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), who received $14,250 from PMA Group PAC and its employees, said he supports Flake’s efforts to launch an investigation into the matter, although he said he doesn’t feel the need to return his contributions or donate them to charity.

“If there’s something wrong with the earmarks PMA received, then let’s look into it,” Young said after a vote on Flake’s resolution two weeks ago. “I list all of my earmark requests on my website, so I’m not ashamed of them at all. I believe in full transparency.”

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), another member of the spending panel who is a vocal proponent of reforming the earmark system, took in $28,000 from PMA Group PAC and its employees since 1989.

Wamp said he knows of only one $2.8 million earmark he secured for a PMA client, Adaptive Methods, a company in his Chattanooga district.

Click here to see the chart detailing campaign contributions.