PMA Scandal

Maybe it's time for the House ethics committee to find a new name.

Last week, the bipartisan committee, known formally as the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, cleared seven lawmakers who had been accused of trading millions in federal dollars for campaign contributions.

The exoneration came despite a report from a separate group, the Office of Congressional Ethics, that found defense contractors that received the federal money (which came in the form of earmarks) believed their contributions were directly tied to federal money coming their way.

Mark Critz — the Democratic nominee to replace the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and a former Murtha staffer — on Wednesday asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to release the transcripts of the interviews conducted with him when the office was investigating Murtha’s earmarks.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003353977

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) offered a privileged resolution Tuesday that would require the House ethics committee to tell Congress how many witnesses it interviewed, how many subpoenas it issued and how many documents it reviewed in its investigation of earmarks Members provided to clients of the PMA Group lobbying firm.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/44033-1.html

There seems to be a disconnect between those who know the PMA scandal vs those who casually glance at the scandal. Most people in Northwest Ohio have glanced at the story, but if you go through and see when money is given and by who, then when those people get an earmark, there is a pattern and even with Marcy Kaptur. When this all started, someone who talks about news in the area dismissed it all as everyone is doing it. The facts can't be ignored regardless of the incorrect assumption that everyone is doing it; everyone is not doing it.

As you all know, you will only get the full story on the PMA scandal here. Roll Call has the latest chapter in the book which you can read below.
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The Feb. 26 ethics committee report concluding that no House Members colluded with the PMA Group lobbying firm to exchange earmarks for campaign contributions indicated that the committee had been investigating the matter since the spring of 2009.

While the PMA group is still being investigated by the FBI and while Marcy still has apparently funneled money in her campaign coffers, here is a copy of the Office of Congressional Ethics report on Marcy. There is some interesting stuff in here, like why Marcy wants to give taxpayer money to a company so they can build TVs here as well as who was not forthcoming on the interviews and what Marcy actually calls "earmarks" (sort of a PC way to make her feel good I guess). More on it another day, but you can read everything for yourself right now.
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You can also see a copy of the full report at:
http://greatopenswamp.com/20100301/office-congressional-ethics-report-pm...

The House of Representatives Ethics Committee has cleared 7 lawmakers, of wrongdoing in the PMA Scandal-including Kaptur. So, Congress clears their own saying there was no evidence of asking for votes. One has to wonder what questions they asked. It is too bad we citizens can't hold the same committee hearings that Congress puts others through and question them on this. This does not absolve Kaptur of all of the questionable donations she has received from what appears to be funneled to her campaign coffers from the PMA lobbyist Paul Magliochetti. This story is not done yet and you will get the complete story here, not speckled articles-as you all know and come to expect.

Washington Times has the latest:

Superlobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, the focus of a federal criminal investigation, held an ownership interest in three small, privately held companies that his lobbying firm had helped obtain millions of federal tax dollars in congressional earmarks.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/15/probed-lobbyist-had-stak...

The Hill is reporting the latest on the PMA Scandal and the investigation of the Office of Congressional Ethics. It says three people being investigated will be referred. Marcy Kaptur has not been cleared yet and did not tell The Hill if she was cleared. Other members have in previous stories. It is odd that she has not said anything.
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The independent ethics office has referred three cases of alleged misconduct in the last three months to the full House ethics committee for further review.

I am including Marcy's name on the tag because some of these donors show up on her lists.
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A retired Florida couple would appear an unlikely source to have given $83,000 in campaign donations over a five-year period to members of Congress from all over the country.

Both in their 80s, they lived in a $118,000 Daytona Beach house they didn't own; they each voted only twice since 1992; and they seemed to lack the financial means to make the contributions.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/23/lobbyists-kin-unlikely-campa...

Office of Congressional Ethics clears the biggest offenders of breaking bribery and accepting gifts. The ethics committee is still investigating and no word on Marcy's status on OCE's investigation. Marcy and the other reps are still not out of the woods yet. The Hill, Washington Post, and Roll Call have the latest.
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Marcy Kaptur is angry and for some reason only wants to talk about the leak, not the allegations, which is strange. The Hill has the full story.
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She [Kaptur] has talked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and has requested a full briefing about how the secret document became public, but she is still waiting to hear back from Pelosi as well as the ethics committee.

“I have received no assurances and I am still waiting for them,” she said.

http://thehill.com//homenews/house/71575-ethics-panels-slow-pace-of-prob...

Columbus Dispatch does not like the PMA Scandal in their editorial yesterday. Kaptur is rightfully singled out.
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Earmarks, the amendments that members of Congress attach to bills to fund special projects in their districts, are sometimes money well-spent -- for innovation, capital improvements and job creation.

But many earmarks are wasteful. Slipped quietly into unrelated bills without discussion or debate, they result in millions of taxpayers' dollars spent on projects that are frivolous. And sometimes they're dirty.

USA Today's stance on the PMA scandal:
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When it came out last month that seven members of a key House committee were under scrutiny by ethics investigators, House leaders were outraged.

Not about the clear implication of the inquiry — that defense contracts are for sale. The leaders were upset about the accidental leak that allowed the information to come out publicly.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/11/debate-on-defense-earmarks-our-vi...

The Hill is reporting on the latest saga on the Kaptur's involvement with the PMA scandal investigation. Kaptur wants to clarify that she never was approached by the full ethics panel, but has been interviewed by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) both spoke to the Hill about this.

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But both said late last week that the full House panel has neither interviewed them nor asked either for any information about their interactions with or political contributions from the former lobbying group....

The article also says:
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Marcy is demanding "a full accounting" of the leak showing she was brought before the ethics committee about her connections with the disgraced PMA Group. Why not?

A computer gaffe has revealed some of the secretive workings of the House ethics committee, including preliminary inquiries into complaints against 19 members and some of their staff. The accidental disclosure, made by a staffer who was later fired, sent a bipartisan jolt through Congress, which is already wary about new and long overdue mandates for greater ethical transparency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/opinion/31sat3.html

Before taking control of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history." However, with dozens of mostly Democratic lawmakers and various staff under investigation by the House's twin ethics bodies, the majority clearly values political power over clean government.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/02/old-school-corruption/?feat=...

The dozens of investigations of lawmakers revealed last week by an accidental ethics committee leak show that Democrats are living up to their pledge to make Congress more ethical, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/66071-hoyer-democrats-meeting-pledge-t...

According to Columbus Dispatch, Marcy's spokesperson says "Kaptur was attempting to help Toledo-area companies"

Hmm, then why do you need donations?

Note Xunlight came up again in this article. If you investigate the times of the donations, who they donated to, then when they get federal money, the timing is quite interesting.

But let's not forget, this "helping them" reasoning has been used more than once.
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Read the rest at:
Rep. Kaptur's Earmarks Part of Ethics Probe