Posted on 09/27/2006 7:52:59 AM PDT by Just A Nobody
Washington County Commissioner Diana L. Irey seized on a report Tuesday from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington that targeted her opponent in this fall's 12th Congressional District race, U.S. Rep. John Murtha.
Irey hand-delivered a letter to U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's downtown Pittsburgh office in the U.S. Courthouse calling for an investigation to determine if Murtha violated federal law.
Irey based her request on the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, asking for a probe into whether Murtha accepted "campaign contributions in exchange for placing earmarked appropriations into legislation he is largely responsible for drafting and pushing to passage."
CREW, which bills itself as a "legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions," labeled 20 of its "most corrupt members of Congress," including Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum among three senators and 17 members of Congress. Murtha, a Johnstown Democrat, was named to a separate list CREW called "five members to watch."
Santorum, an incumbent Republican, held a fund-raiser Friday at a Peters Township mansion with Vice President Dick Cheney. Irey, minority commissioner and Republican nominee for Congress, was among the guests at the Venetia event.
In a press release Tuesday, Irey didn't mention Santorum's position on the CREW list, but noted, "Lest you think this is some kind of partisan hit job, it is not. This is not a report by a Republican or a conservative organization. Of the 25 members listed, only four are Democrats."
Asked why she omitted the reference to Santorum in her own news release, Irey said Tuesday afternoon, "I chose to focus on Mr. Murtha. That would probably be me as the candidate looking at Mr. Murtha's activities and concerns that others have raised regarding his actions."
Murtha, through a spokesman, dismissed Irey's news conference called Tuesday on Grant Street.
"This is pure politics. We have a CPA who does all our reports and disclosures and we do everything by the book. In 32 years that I've been in Congress not one of my disclosures has been questioned or reviewed. We play by the rules in both fund-raising and reporting," said Murtha's media consultant, Ed Mitchell on Tuesday.
Leading the information on the CREW Web site on Santorum was the enrollment of six Santorum children in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school while the family was living in Leesburg, Va.
"I would have to disagree with the assessment of Ms. Irey," said Virginia Davis, spokeswoman for the Santorum campaign.
She called CREW "a liberal front group that selects a few token Democrats to the give the appearance of fairness, but this group is simply a Democratic front group that cannot be trusted.
"They've been targeting Republicans for years."
In politics I believe Conan it best.
Conan, what is best in life?"
"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."
Gotta love Conan!!!
Hey! Not all CPA's are corupt! ;*)
In 2002, Kit Murtha was hired by KSA Consulting, a firm that lobbies the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on behalf of defense contractors.
. *** . Mr. [Kit] Murtha joined the firm at the invitation of
. *** . top KSA official Carmen Scialabba, who had worked for Rep. Murtha on the House Appropriations Committee for 27 years.
In 2004, Congress passed a $417 billion defense appropriations bill that went through Rep. Murtha’s subcommittee.
. *** . The bill benefitted at least 10 companies represented by KSA
. *** . and KSA directly lobbied Rep. Murtha’s office on behalf of seven of those companies,
. *** . which received a total $20.8 million in earmarks.
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.
. *** . In the current campaign cycle, the PMA Group and 12 of the firm’s clients rank in the top 20 contributors to Rep. Murtha,
. *** . having made campaign contributions totaling $274,649.
In turn, many of PMA’s clients have benefited significantly from Rep. Murtha’s earmarks.
. *** . In the 2006 Defense appropriations bill, PMA clients received at least 60 earmarks, totaling $95.1 million.
House ethics rules prohibit members from taking any official actions for the prospect of personal gain for themselves or anyone else.
In addition, Rule XXIII of the House Ethics Manual requires all members of the House to conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.”
By earmarking funds for companies represented by Kit Murtha and Paul Magliocchetti, Rep. Murtha has violated House rules.
"A spokesman dismissed Irey's news conference called Tuesday on Grant Street." - fixed it. ;)
And meanwhile, back in the 12th, 115 families, mostly elderly and/or disabled, in a local trailer park found out just how much good it does to ask Murtha for help:
"Post office turns down Murtha, mobile home park" was the page 3 headline yesterday- hmmmm, so much for "clout"? ;)
Btw, anyone actually "seen" Murtha lately? ;)
Gotcha! ;*)
MUNDYS CORNER — The postal service has denied a request from U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, to bring curbside mail delivery to about 115 families living in a mobile-home park here.
Residents were notified last week that they must drive 25 miles round-trip to downtown Johnstown – or find alternative methods – to retrieve mail.
WOW! Murtha's influence must only count when you have several thousand dollars to deposit into his campaign accounts. *snicker*
Meanwhile, on the *front* page middle is a really nice photo of Mrs. Irey speaking to area students(potential voters) at UPJ. (Gosh, she's *everywhere*. What brand of vitamins *is* she taking? ;)
And the last time any of them saw Murtha was??????????? Oops! ;)
Funny you keep mentioning that. At Boot Murtha we're working on a map (may not get finished until after this weekend's rally) of Mr. Murtha's campaign for re-election. Hey, I didn't say it was for his re-election! :-) This map paints quite a picture.
I keep mentioning it because I'm still waiting for him to start actually "campaigning" here in his district. You remember us, the people who will actually be voting? ;)
Evidently he still thinks he's running unopposed? ;)
No, I don't believe we've met. What state are you in? Colorado? New Hampshire? Those are some recent public appearances for Jackie boy.
LOL! Actually, I will be in NH next week, but I won't be telling people there where I'm from. I'm tired of being embarrassed.
And now off to work. Hey, maybe I'll do another poll? ;)
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