John Murtha (D-PA), who was narrowly defeated as House Majority Leader, along with Jim Moran (D-VA) and Peter Visclosky (D-IN), have reportedly accepted $1,333,074 in campaign contributions from the PMA Group. PMA, a firm founded by a former Murtha worker, is believed to have walked away with $100.5 million in defense earmarks for their clients. Controversy is not new to Murtha; he was linked, but not indicted, in the 1980 Abscam scandal, which resulted in the convictions of a senator and six congressmen. He is currently facing ethics violations stemming from threats to block earmarks of other members for political purposes. -- 2/27/2008 4:56:14 PM. |