Visclosky, Nelson returning cash from raided firm (Will Murtha?)

The Hill ^ | February 17, 2009 | Roxana Tiron and Susan Crabtree

[jazusamo]

Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) is returning at least $16,000 in campaign donations made by The PMA Group, a lobby shop raided by the FBI in November.

Also Tuesday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) joined Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) in deciding to give back thousands of dollars in donations received from PMA .

Visclosky is specifically returning donations made by two men in Florida listed in federal election commission documents as PMA employees and associates. The two men, one a sommelier at the Ritz Carlton hotel on Amelia Island and the other a golf marketing director on the same beach resort, were on PMA’s board of directors but had no connection to lobbying or politics, according to several reports.

Visclosky is returning $16,000 he received from the two men, John Pugliese and Jon Walker, over the last two election cycles, David St. John, a spokesman for the Vislosky for Congress Committee, told The Hill on Tuesday.

Visclosky’s campaign officers are also examining other campaign donations, he added. Visclosky will return more money if federal investigators determine that there more bogus contributions made under the PMA name, St. John said.

Visclosky also received $2,000 in 2006 from Marvin Hoffman, listed as a PMA associate in Marina Del Rey, Calif. Hoffman told the Washington Post on Saturday that he had no idea what PMA was and did not know how his name ended up associated with the lobby shop.

ABC News on Tuesday reported that Nelson took more than $4,000 from two men listed in FEC records as PMA employees.

"We will not keep money if someone made improper contributions," said a Nelson spokesman. "As soon as authorities are able to identify any such contributions, we would give that money to charity."

Lofgren, who chairs the House ethics committee, earlier said she would return all $7,000 she received from PMA’s Political Action Committee. The PMA matter could come before the ethics committee so it’s important that the top-ranking Democrat on the panel clear herself of any potential conflict of interest.

PMA, one of the top defense lobbying firms in Washington which has disintegrated in recent weeks, is under federal investigation focused on campaign contributions. PMA’s founder Paul Magliocchetti was a longtime defense appropriations staff member who worked closely with several key appropriators, including Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the defense panel chairman, and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.).

Murtha has not indicated whether he will return any PMA money. He has received $105,000 from PMA employees from 2001 through 2008.

Visclosky’s chief of staff Rich Kaelin went to work for PMA and was one of the firm’s high-profile lobbyists. PMA has been Visclosky's biggest single source of campaign dollars since 2003.

Visclosky is the only lawmaker who received money from Hoffman as the PMA associate. Visclosky's spokesman did not address that donation; he only talked about the Florida donations.

[jazusamo]

Murtha Watch Ping!

Code Pinkos

To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.

[bmwcyle]

He will not give up a cent until someone puts a gun to his head.

[FlingWingFlyer]

The corruption in Washington is so bad that it would make Al Capone blush.

[jazusamo]

I couldn’t agree more!

He and his “yes man” Mazonkey will refuse to comment and ignore it.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

(Will Murtha?)



Surely, you jest....

[jazusamo]

LOL!

I knew that or something similar was coming. :)

[abigailsmybaby]

In a word: no.

[Safetgiver]

Don’t call me Shirley.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

I often wonder why Jumpin’ Fat Jack hasn’t been back to Minnesota since ‘06.....

;-)

[freema]

Let me know when to ask for volunteers.

[Marine_Uncle]

Murtha give up money. That would be like him giving the go to hack his arms off.

[A_Tradition_Continues]

I’m here in the 1st Congressional District of Indiana that Visclosky represents. Granted he can and is a democrat ahole he does respond to letter and emails from me. Granted, we seldom agree but I actually believe the man is semi-honest. (Pete prefers Union money anyway.)

[ArmyTeach]

You know, taking money in the first place is the problem; returning it is a little after the fact. The election's won. Besides, given the stakes, the amounts look penny-ante, no big deal if they do return it. I say they are still guilty.

[jazusamo]

Your Rep sounds a lot like mine, Brian Baird in WA state. The only thing we’ve agreed on was him changing his mind about pulling our troops out of Iraq after the surge was working, he was honest and said it was working. At the same time he’s not a porker in the fashion of Murtha and others at the trough and does answer my contacts even if I don’t alter his lib stances.

[smoothsailing]

Good piece in The Hill.

They also ran this one...

http://thehill.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79819&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=70

Did you see it? It hasn’t been posted as a thread yet. If nothing new comes up tomorrow I’ll probably start a thread with it.

There was a flurry of articles that involved PMA, Kuchera, and Murtha this afternoon. The fact that some of these dems are giving money back encourages me to believe that these stories are just beginning and some dems are already deciding to abandon the the SS Murtha before it sinks.

[jazusamo]

No, I hadn’t seen that one. It looks like a good piece and will ping the list when you post it. I only read the first few paragraphs but will finish it shortly.

I also thought it was a good sign that Dems are giving donations back while only silence from Murtha, kinda shows the rest of them don’t want to be put in the same category as Murtha. I suspected Murtha was just a tad too out in the open with his payoffs of greasing each others palms for the last few years and it looks like it’s catching up to him, he deserves it big time!

[smoothsailing]

Ok. I’ll post it around 1PM EST if nothing else pops up and I’ll ping you to it. See ya tomorrow, buddy!

[jazusamo]

G’Night Smooth, looking forward to it. :)

[freema]

Good Morning, my darlings.

I had the same feeling. Well, maybe... mine was kind of tingly : )