It is a great photo and a great idea, Jaz! Thanks!
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."
Thanks for the link to the crew report, it is quite damning indeed. Seems there were many coincidences regarding Murtha, ear marks, campaign contributions and lobbyists. This is going to be interesting.
That's a great photo, Justa. I'll bet that will be in a Congressional office in the not too distant future. :-)
It is a great photo and a great idea, Jaz! Thanks!
I could not get your FReeper name spelled right earlier to ping you. Apologies!
Great piece, thanks for the link.
B U M P
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