Murtha-Moran Inc. Once Again Caught Steering Funds to Firms of Former Aides
Murtha, Moran Deliver Millions in Earmarks, Rake in Campaign Cash
SPIN CYCLE: Speaker Pelosi Vowed that Democrats Would Lead the “Most Honest, Most Open, and Most Ethical Congress in History”
"Our goal is to restore accountability, honesty and openness at all levels of government. To do so, we will create and enforce rules that demand the highest ethics from every public servant, sever unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, and establish clear standards that prevent the trading of official business for gifts," (Nancy Pelosi’s “A New Direction for America, Page 21).
RINSE CYCLE: Top Dems Funnel Federal Tax Dollars to Firms Represented by Former Lobbyists in Another Crooked ‘Pay to Play’ Scheme
When software firm MobilVox wanted to break into the lucrative world of defense contracting, it pursued an unmistakable strategy: It expanded operations from its Northern Virginia base in Rep. James P. Moran's congressional district to the southwestern Pennsylvania district of Rep. John P. Murtha.
Working with two of the most powerful members of a House subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the company also hired lobbying firms that employed former top aides of both the Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Murtha's brother. Company executives and their lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to the two congressmen.
Soon, money flowed the other way.
Between 2003 and 2009, Mr. Murtha and Mr. Moran helped deliver $12 million to MobilVox in earmarks - money that is set aside by lawmakers for pet projects in the government's annual spending bills. The latest House defense spending bill introduced and pushed through by Mr. Murtha includes an additional $2 million earmark for MobilVox requested by Mr. Moran. The bill is currently pending in conference committee.
MobilVox, the two lawmakers and the lobbyists hired by the company insist they followed all congressional rules and campaign fundraising laws, and that all earmark decisions were made on their merit. None has been accused of any wrongdoing.
But MobilVox's success fits a pattern of doing business in Washington that ethics watchdogs deride as a "pay-to-play" system - one that became infamous during Republican years and continues to operate under a Democratic leadership that had promised to change a "culture of corruption" in Washington.
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Mr. Murtha, chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, is under siege as multiple grand juries investigate defense contractors close to him. The contractors built their businesses on Murtha earmarks at the same time they donated to him, hired lobbying companies that employed his former aides, associates and brother, and opened offices in his home district.
Mr. Moran has escaped the public scrutiny that Mr. Murtha has faced, but Federal Election Commission (FEC) and congressional lobbying records show his relationship with MobilVox fits a substantially similar pattern that benefited his campaign coffers and delivered lobbying work to one of his closest former top aides, Melissa Koloszar, the congressman's longtime chief of staff and appropriations aide.
A federal grand jury in Washington is investigating one of MobilVox's key lobbyists, Paul Magliocchetti, and his defunct firm, The PMA Group, which was highly successful in getting earmarks for dozens of clients.
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Reston-based MobilVox, founded in 1998, develops software to help the U.S. military reduce the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - roadside and car bombs. The software is designed to make it easier to locate, identify and defuse the weapons.
According to databases maintained by the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget, MobilVox had not received any Defense contracts before it began working with Mr. Moran and Mr. Murtha.
But MobilVox has received or shared in nine earmarks sponsored by the two lawmakers since 2003 totaling $12.35 million, according to records and interviews.
During that same period, MobilVox officers and employees donated $39,000 to Mr. Murtha and his various political committees and $21,000 to Mr. Moran, records show. (Chuck Neubauer, “Murtha, Moran Steer Millions to Defense Firm,” Washington Times, 10/23/09)
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