http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1489385/posts
My Enemy's Enemy by George Crile
(snip)
It was only the beginning of the extraordinary maneuvers Wilson had to make to push this bill through a highly reluctant Congress. By then even his most reliable ally, John Murtha, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, wanted to end the CIA program. Murtha was appalled at reports of the mujahideen's drug trafficking, but in the end he stood with Charlie, and his support guaranteed the bill's passage in the House. It was passed in the Senate that fall. The secret appropriation was hidden in the $298 billion Defense bill for fiscal year 1992. When it was presented for a vote, no one but the interested few noticed the $200 million earmarked for the Afghans.
(snip)
He then did a big favor for then-Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.). The chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee at the time, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), had been caught in the FBI's ABSCAM sting operation in which an agent disguised as a Saudi sheik offered members of Congress large cash bribes. O'Neill put Wilson on the Ethics Committee to save Murtha, which he did. In return, O'Neill assigned Wilson to the defense appropriations subcommittee and made him a life member of the governing board of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, where he delighted in taking his young dates.
(snip)
Rep. John Murtha (PA)(1981) H. REP. NO. 97-1004, 97th Cong., 1st Sess., at 6 (1983) Bribery and conspiracy Preliminary inquiry voted (May 28, 1981); dismissed (July 28, 1981) (Special Counsel resigned) Resolutions to investigate (Oct. 2, 1980 and March 4, 1981) Rep. John Murtha (PA)(1981)
H. REP. NO. 97-1004, 97th Cong., 1st Sess., at 6 (1983)
|
Bribery and conspiracy |
Preliminary inquiry voted (May 28, 1981); dismissed (July 28, 1981) (Special Counsel resigned) |
Resolutions to investigate (Oct. 2, 1980 and March 4, 1981) |
ABSCAM Investigation; recused from ABSCAM-related investigations (member of Standards Comm.) |