"As the public boils with anger over millions of dollars in retention bonuses for American Insurance Group employees, financial interests quietly continue to woo lawmakers with fundraising parties this month.
Actually, I think that members are still wooing the financial industry by offering dinners, breakfasts and events geared to their industry. While members may be publicly throwing AIG under the bus, in private they're only too happy to cozy up with contributors, offering preferred access and insights in exchange for campaign cash.
One of the first rules of following Washington: Watch what they do, not what they say.
National ...
Continue readingMuckety maps PMA Group giving
There have been lots of different ways of slicing PMA Group contributions from Congressional Quarterly and the Center for Responsive Politics (see here too). Now Muckety looks at the web of connections of top PMA Group lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti. From CQ's analysis, Muckety begins by noting:
In addition to Magliocchetti, nine of his relatives - two children, his daughter-in-law, his current wife, his ex-wife and his ex-wife's parents, sister and brother-in-law - donated a total of $1.5 million to political campaigns in that nine-year period, according to the analysis.
The map is interactive; click the names to navigate it ...
Continue readingDodd’s tbd fundraising reception
Facing what looks like a tougher-than-expected reelection effort, Sen. Christopher Dodd has a fundraiser scheduled for tomorrow evening, March 18, at a location "TBD." (click the link to see the invite) Dodd is asking "hosts" to pony up $10,000 (PACs will be the hosts, and they'll be asked to give $5,000 for the primary and $5,000 for the general election, maxing out in March for an election twenty months away. To be a co-host, a PAC can contribute $5,000, while individuals can get in the door (which door?) for a mere $1,000 ...
Continue readingMurtha’s pass through earmarks
Earmark disclosure isn't going to do any good if members can designate a middle man to take funds, then distribute them to private companies. But that's exactly what the Washington Post says Rep. John Murtha has been doing, and they've got documents to back them up:
A Pennsylvania defense research center regularly consulted with two "handlers" close to Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) as it collected nearly $250 million in federal funding through the lawmaker, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and sources familiar with the funding requests. The center then channeled a significant portion ...Continue reading
Sunshine Week Editorials on S. 482
Happy Sunshine Week everyone! I’m happy to share some editorials from around the country in support of Sunlight’s efforts to... View Article
Continue readingCRP: PMA Group, clients donated to 516 members of Congress
Lindsay Renick Mayer of the Center for Responsive Politics writes on OpenSecrets.org about PMA Group, the lobbying firm that specialized in defense appropriations and that is reportedly under investigation for campaign finance irregularities:
No matter how we slice and dice the data related to contributions from embattled lobbying firm PMA Group and its clients, Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), chair of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, remains at or near the top of the recipient list, along with Reps. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.). This week, though, we took yet another look at the contributions from the firm ...Continue reading
Another guilty plea in Abramoff case
Roll Call's Jennifer Yachnin reports:
Former Senate aide Ann Copland pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, acknowledging she accepted more than $25,000 in gifts including tickets to sporting events and concerts from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.Copland, a longtime aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) who left in 2008 to join Mississippi Public Broadcasting, has agreed to cooperate with Justice Department attorneys in their long-running investigation into lobbying activities on Capitol Hill. Copland is among the 18 individuals, including the incarcerated Abramoff, to be charged with wrongdoing ...
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Dodd’s Dealings Illustrate Holes in Financial Disclosure
Via InstaPundit comes this commentary from the Hartford Courant by Kevin Rennie, an attorney who writes a weekly column for the paper, on Sen. Chris Dodd's real estate deals. The Senate Ethics Committee is already looking at his mortgage with Countrywide Financial (more details here); Rennie writes that other Dodd properties might be worth looking into:
It was reported here two weeks ago that Downe's real estate development partner, William "Bucky" Kessinger of Kansas City, Mo., purchased a 1,700-square-foot home in Ireland with Dodd in 1994 for $160,000. Downe's name appeared on the transfer document ...Continue reading
House kills PMA probe
The House on Thursday night turned back another call to investigate the PMA Group, a once-powerful lobbying firm whose offices were recently raided by the FBI and which has close ties to Pennsylvania Rep. John P. Murtha (D).Twenty-one Democrats, including nine freshmen, voted to proceed with debate on the measure offered by Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake (R) calling for an investigation of the lobbying firm. Most of the Democrats represent fiscally conservative districts.
Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska--the focus of an unrelated federal corruption probe--voted with the Democrats to table Flake's motion. He was joined by ...
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Visclosky endorses some form of action on PMA Group
A friend passes on this story:
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, was expecting the House to take some sort of action later today with respect to an inquiry into The PMA Group, the Washington, D.C., lobbying firm reportedly under investigation by the FBI.PMA has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Visclosky's campaign committee, as have many of its clients, for some of whom Visclosky has secured millions of dollars in federal contracts.
I have been urging the House leadership to open an inquiry into PMA, Visclosky told the Chesterton Tribune today. I am encouraged that ...
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