WASHINGTON — Three lawmakers said Tuesday that they were returning campaign contributions from donors listed as employees of the PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm whose founder is under investigation for purportedly funneling money through bogus donors. The decision by the three lawmakers — Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, and Representatives Zoe Lofgren of California and Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana, all Democrats — puts new pressure on others who received cash from the PMA Group and its founder, Paul Magliocchetti. Other big beneficiaries include Representative John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who is chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee; Representative James P. Moran, a Virginia Democrat on the panel; and Representative Alan B. Mollohan, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among other things.
Mr. Murtha, who received the most donations from PMA’s employees and clients, was a mentor to Mr. Magliocchetti, who was once on the staff of the defense appropriations subcommittee. Mr. Murtha, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Moran and Mr. Mollohan have all earmarked millions of dollars in federal money for the PMA Group’s clients. A spokesman for Mr. Nelson said his campaign would give at least $4,000 in suspect donations to charity and was reviewing all contributions associated with the group.

The PMA Group headquarters was raided by the FBI in November, 2008.  Paul Magliocchetti, the founder of PMA Group, who indicated earlier this year he wanted to retire,  was a long-time aide for Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) on the House defense appropriations panel. PMA specializes in obtaining earmarks in the defense budget for a long list of clients. Out of its team of 35 lobbyists, at least 30 worked on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon or both. All the staff bios from PMA’s website were taken off a couple months ago.  Over the years, PMA has benefited from its ties to Murtha and the other defense appropriators who have helped the firm secure millions of dollars in federal earmarks. A large portion of PMA’s business comes from companies headquartered in and around Murtha’s district in Johnstown, Pa. PMA also lobbies for defense giants like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, both of which have facilities in Johnstown.  In 2008, PMA earned about $14 million in lobbying revenue. Over time, PMA attracted the attention of government watchdogs, not only because of its ability to secure earmarks, but also for the large campaign donations the firm and its clients have given to lawmakers. The Center for Responsive Politics ranks PMA’s political action committee and PMA employees the leading contributors to at least 40 Democrats, including Murtha, Visclosky, Moran, Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.), and Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.).  While PMA donated primarily to Democrats, several Republicans also received contributions, including Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), nominated for Commerce Secretary in the Obama administration, former Sen. John Sununu (N.H.), and Reps. Ander Crenshaw (Fla.) and John McHugh (N.Y.). When Murtha was struggling with an unexpected challenge in his reelection campaign after remarking that voters in his district were racist, PMA lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to his campaign.  According to the Federal Election Commission data, employees of PMA gave the lawmaker $14,000. The PMA PAC donated $5,000 to him at the end of October. PMA clients made up the rest of the $110,000 the lawmaker raised in his last-minute fundraising efforts.  In the 2008 election cycle, PMA’s PAC donated $237,500 to Democrats and $141,000 to Republicans. “For a long time they have been prolific donors mainly to Democratic members of Congress,” said Keith Ashdown with the non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “When Democrats came into power they became one of the most well-positioned lobby firms.”  Ashdown called the relationship between PMA and lawmakers “the Democrats’ example of pay-to-play.” “It will become the majority’s Waterloo on ethics,” Ashdown warned. “If they do not tackle this example head-on they will look as bad as the Republicans on ethics in government.” 

PMA is the second company with close ties to Murtha to be raided by federal agents recently. In January, agents from the FBI, the IRS and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service searched the office of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems, as well as the homes of the firms’ founders. The companies reportedly have received over $100 million in earmarks, thanks to Murtha’s efforts. While it is unclear whether Murtha is a target of the investigations, the heightened scrutiny of some of his closest donors and allies signals that the Feds may be inching closer to the 35-year-member of Congress, who chairs the powerful Defense Appropriations subcommittee.  “The FBI is showing a lot of interest in” a lot of people around Murtha, said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “If I was in Murtha’s camp, I would not be sleeping at night.”  The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has called Murtha one of the most corrupt members of Congress, for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from companies and writing them millions of dollars in earmarks. Murtha has declined to comment on the designation.
  Murtha is no stranger to controversy. In the late 1970s, he was targeted in the “Abscam” scandal, a three-year FBI sting in which agents posed as representatives of an Arab sheik and offered suitcases of cash to lawmakers for favors. According to reports at the time, Murtha declined the undercover agents’ cash offer, but suggested the “sheik” find a way to invest the money in his home district.