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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| FBI investigates lobbying firm that is generous donor to Dicks, Murray |
| 2009-03-24 |
| Congressman Norm Dicks has never been shy about accepting campaign donations from favor seekers. Now the FBI is investigating one of Dicks' most generous donors -- the powerhouse lobbying firm PMA Group. Questions have been raised about whether some PMA-related campaign contributions were actually given by the people listed as donors. For example, thousands of dollars in contributions to Dicks, Washington Sen. Patty Murray and other lawmakers came from a sommelier and a golf-club employee who were identified as PMA officials on some campaign-finance reports. The investigation has prompted some lawmakers to distance themselves from the PMA-related contributions. Murray said she has donated $3,500 of her questionable contributions to Food Lifeline, a local charity. Other lawmakers have talked about doing something similar. Dicks is waiting to see if the FBI finds any criminal wrongdoing before making a decision on his contributions. "If any of those contributions are judged improper, it'd be his intention to give them back," said Dicks' spokesperson George Behan. The FBI raided PMA's office suite in Arlington, Va., last November, part of an investigation into possible improper campaign donations, according to media reports. The firm's founder Paul Magliochetti, who recently retired, is a former aide of the House subcommittee on defense spending, which decides which earmarks get inserted in the defense bill. Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha is the current chairman and a long time member. The PMA Group touts a long list of clients who've gotten defense "earmarks," often no-bid contracts that federal agencies feel pressure to award companies selected by individual lawmakers. In the 2008 defense bill alone, lawmakers gave PMA clients 172 earmarks. Some of those clients had numerous lobbying firms working on their behalf. Many of the lawmakers sponsoring those earmarks received generous political contributions from donors with PMA ties. Since 2003, individuals or groups with PMA ties gave more than $2.5 million to the campaigns of 165 members of Congress, according to a Seattle Times' analysis. Dicks, a Bremerton Democrat, was fourth highest on the list, receiving a total of $84,000. PMA's political-action committee also donated $5,000 to the charity Defenders of Wildlife on Dicks' behalf. As the second ranking Democrat on Murtha's subcommittee, Dicks wields substantial influence over defense spending. In the past two years, Dicks pushed for nine earmarks worth $20 million for PMA clients. Those clients include defense contractors with satellite offices in Bremerton, such as 21 Century Systems, Advanced Acoustic Concepts and Concurrent Technologies. Each company is involved in defense technology. Those companies' employees or political-action committees have given large campaign contributions to Dicks. Each also have offices in Murtha's district. Murray, a member of the powerful Senate appropriations committee, ranked 25th on the PMA contribution list, receiving $26,000 in donations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Oh, oh, oh let me guess which party..... |
| Posted by: Beavis 2009-03-24 11:18 |
| #1 Dicks is critical for Fort Lewis and any procurements they need. He has always helped them and , judgung by his record, always will |
| Posted by: Tacuuma 2009-03-24 11:06 |