February 11th 2009
That Was Quick! It’s The Dem Lobbying Scandal
George W. Bush was entering his second term when Jack Abramoff’s contributions to the putrid swamp became public. Barack Obama barely made it through his second week – and that’s only if you don’t count the scandalous backtracking on his promise of no lobbyists in his leadership team.
So as the first lobbying scandal of the new Dem admin breaks, we have to ask ourselves: What could be more delightful than to see it swirling around NanPo’s court jester, John Murtha?
Two separate federal raids at the Virginia offices of a lobbying powerhouse and at the Pennsylvania headquarters of a defense contractor have one thing in common: Both businesses have made millions from federal earmark projects arranged by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).
Sources familiar with the probes say the FBI is looking at whether the PMA Group, a lobbying firm founded by a former Murtha aide, arranged contributions to Murtha and other House Democrats that may have violated federal election laws. …
Murtha, a 19-term congressman, arranged $38 million in federal earmarks for PMA’s clients in the past fiscal year alone, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. (WaPo)
Murtha’s spokesy pled innocence or something approximating it: “No one is suggesting that Jack Murtha is involved, has anything to do with this. Period.” That’s a far cry from, “My client is innocent. Period.”
Also suffering early taint per the NYT story: Representative James P. Moran of Virginia and Representative Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana. Both Dems, natch.
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