PMA lobbying group founder indicted — which members of Congress will suffer?
By: David Freddoso
Online Opinion Editor
08/05/10 4:05 PM EDT
From Capital Land:
<<< Paul Magliocchetti, the founder and president of PMA Group has been indicted on charges that he made thousands of dollars in illegal campaign donations in order to enhance his firm’s influence. >>>
The PMA lobby shop has been a looming story for several years. An indictment at this moment could become another minor disaster for anyone involved who is already facing a tough congressional re-election. All the more so if Magliocchetti is given the opportunity to make a deal.
A quick refresher: PMA was shut down last year and raided by the FBI in the wake of several reports that its employees and clients were allegedly trading contributions for hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks from certain members of Congress. This accusation has never been proven, and the Office of Congressional Ethics dropped its investigation last year.
The biggest recipients of PMA-related cash were the deceased Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa. ($2.3 million), and Reps. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind. ($1.4 million) and Jim Moran, D-Va. ($1 million). But PMA cash flowed to both parties and both Houses — and especially to appropriators. Nearly anyone you can think of in Congress today got some of their money.
We are now in an election year in which already-wounded members of Congress are going to be the most important names on PMA’s list of beneficiaries. When I scan the list of 200 or so members who took a significant ($50k or more) chunk of PMA cash, I don’t see any Republican incumbents who are currently likely to lose their seats. But there are some already-vulnerable Democrats near the top, and I’d count on their opponents making it an issue. To be precise:
Sen. Harry Reid ($265,000)
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. ($433,000)
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Tex. ($378,000)
Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C. ($242,000)
Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla. ($143,000)
Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa. ($112,000)
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. ($53,000)
(At least three members of Congress have appeared in news reports as having given back PMA-tied cash after the scandal broke, but none of those on this list. We have contacted each of them to see if they have since returned any of the money.)
Among non-incumbents, there’s one 2010-relevant GOP name very high up on the PMA list: Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. ($299,000), who is giving up his seat to run for Senate. Much farther down is Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. ($88,000), also running for Senate.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., ($70,000) could receive some grief for it too — his opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., does not appear on the list at all.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: washingtonexaminer.com |
