Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)

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Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) is an 18th-term member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district.  Rep. Murtha chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.  Rep. Murtha’s ethics violations stem from abuse of his position on the subcommittee to benefit the lobbying firm of a former long-term staffer and from threatening to block earmarks of other members for political purposes.  Rep. Murtha was included as a member to watch in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
PMA Group

Paul Magliocchetti worked with Rep. Murtha as a senior staffer on the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense for 10 years.  After leaving the committee, Mr. Magliocchetti founded the PMA Group, which has become one of the most prominent Washington, D.C. defense lobbying firms.  Since the second quarter of 2007 campaign cycle, the PMA Group and ten of the firm’s clients ranked in the top 20 contributors to Rep. Murtha, having made campaign contributions totaling $190,880.  In the 2006, 2004 and 2002 cycles, PMA and its clients have given $274,649, $236,799, $279,074 in contributions respectively.  In turn, many of PMA’s clients have benefitted significantly from Rep. Murtha’s earmarks.  In the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill, Rep. Murtha helped steer at least $100.5 million to PMA clients–up from $95.1 million in the 2006 Defense Appropriations bill.

Other Earmarks

Other companies receiving federal earmarks have donated to Rep. Murtha’s campaign committee and PAC.  Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Conemaugh Health Systems, DRS Technologies, L. Robert Kimball, MTS Technologies, and Windber Research Institute donated to Rep. Murtha and were the recipients of earmarks in the FY 2008 Defense Appropriations bill.
                                           
Concurrent Technologies Corporation

CTC is a large non-profit that in 2006 received over $225 million in government grants. Congress has earmarked at least $226 million for CTC in the past four years.  Since 2002, CTC’s employees and employees’ family members have donated over $126,000 to Rep. Murtha’s political committees and leadership PAC.    

Critics of CTC have charged that earmarked federal funds have resulted in few new developments.  A Pentagon inspector general audit found that CTC subsidiary, the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence, had demonstrated 63 technologies between 1990 and 2000, of which only a third were transferred over to the Defense Department, and of those only one technology has been used at more than one site.  In that ten year period the center received $212 million in appropriations.  A former CTC director characterized much of the non-profit’s work as never getting off the planning table.     

In April of 2008, the FBI and the Pentagon Defense Criminal Investigation Service issued subpoenas seeking information regarding contracts awarded to Commonwealth Research Institute (CRI) and its parent company CTC.  Investigators are seeking information about seven contracts, four of which were awarded to CTC over several weeks in May and June 2002 and worth up to $130 million.  Investigators are also seeking information regarding a 2002 CRI deal worth $10 million and a 2006 no-bid contract worth up to $45 million.  

Additionally, in December 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley began an inquiry into why CTC has been considered a tax exempt charity.    

ProLogic Earmarks

Rep. Murtha has also earmarked for ProLogic, Inc., a small company under federal investigation for allegedly diverting federal funds to develop software for commercial sale.  Despite the federal probe investigating the abuse of taxpayer money, Rep. Murtha inserted a $2.4 million earmark for the company for fiscal year 2008.  

Since 2002, executives and spouses of ProLogic have donated $42,900 to Rep. Murtha’s campaign committee, and $10,000 to Rep. Murtha’s PAC.  Additionally, ProLogic’s PAC has donated $18,000 to both Rep. Murtha’s campaign committee and PAC.  ProLogic is a PMA client.    

By earmarking funds for CTC, ProLogic and companies represented by the PMA group in return for campaign contributions, Rep. Murtha may have violated federal criminal laws and House rules prohibiting members from dispensing special favors.

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