Where’s Jack Murtha?

WASHINGTON POST: REP. MURTHA STILL SEEKS EARMARKS

WASHINGTON POST | 09.21/09—The buzzer is broken at the John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security, and a note invites visitors, “Please knock.” On a summer afternoon, a lone intern answers the door of the mostly empty basement offices that through the years have overseen $50 million in federal money awarded to projects designed to make the nation safer. [READ MORE]

MURTHA: “NO COMMENT” ON CONTRACTOR CONVICTION

THE HILL | 07.31.09 A federal jury in Florida convicted a defense contractor of helping in a scheme to defraud a military research lab and steer bogus contracts to his defense company and others. [READ THE FULL STORY]

EX-AIR FORCE CONTRACTOR PLEADS GUILTY

[AP] 09.20.09 | A former government employee pleaded guilty Monday and agreed to cooperate in a criminal investigation of appropriations that members of Congress steer to defense contractors. [READ MORE]

AIR FORCE PROJECT BEING PROBED IS LINKED TO MURTHA

WASHINGTON POST [07.15.09]When an Air Force command in north Florida sought new battlefield technologies, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) steered millions in federal dollars its way to hire defense contractors. [READ MORE]

DOJ SAYS MURTHA EARMARK MONEY WAS ILLICITLY DISTRIBUTED

ROLL CALL [06.09.09] A contracting firm that had hired the brother of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) as its lobbyist took the proceeds from a Murtha-provided, $8.2 million Air Force earmark and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to other companies represented by the Congressman’s brother for items that were not part of the project, the Justice Department charged Thursday. [READ MORE]

MURTHA ALLY HELD BY FEDS IN KICKBACK

PostGazette.com [07.07.09] Federal prosecutors filed corruption charges yesterday against a onetime defense contractor who has ties to both U.S. Rep. John Murtha and a suburban Johnstown defense contractor currently under criminal investigation.

Richard S. Ianieri, former president and CEO of Coherent Systems International Corp., was accused of accepting $200,000 in kickbacks. He is charged through a criminal information and is expected to plead guilty.

No date has yet been set. [READ MORE]

EXPOSING MURTHA’S SHELL GAME

CONGRESSDAILY | 06/30/09 Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are charging the Obama administration with playing a political shell game to continue funding for a controversial project in the district of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. [Read more]

MUST SEE VIDEO: “Live from Murtha Airport”

Hat Tip PowerLineBlog | FOX News’ Griff Jenkins recently filed an interesting report on the “stimulus” money slated for the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The report appeared as part of Sean Hannity’s Waste 101 special on “the 101 most egregious examples of wasteful federal government spending.” [SEE VIDEO POST HERE]

FLASHBACK: ABC NEWS Report on Murtha Airport

CBS: FBI Eyes Charity Linked To Rep. Murtha

CBS News has learned the FBI is investigating a little-known not-for-profit organization called Commonwealth Research Institute. It’s located, like a lot of Rep. John Murtha’s, D-Penn., pet projects, in his hometown, Johnstown, PA. [READ]

The Feds Eye Murtha “Middleman”

[UPI] WASHINGTON (May 26, 2009)—Law enforcement earmarks from U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., to a company that has little experience in the field have drawn scrutiny, sources say.

Federal law enforcement sources who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post said the earmarks from Murtha, the powerful head of the U.S. House subcommittee that controls defense appropriations, to Mountaintop Technologies of Johnstown, Pa., are being examined. [READ]

New Win for Murtha’s “Coldblooded Killer”

(FROM REPORTS) Legal victories continue for the so-called “Haditha Marines,” men accused by Congressman Jack Murtha of committing brutal war crimes in several national interviews. The latest win was a unanimous ruling favor of Lt. Col. Jeffery Chessani. [READ]

Lancaster Paper: Murtha Should Apologize

(LancasterOnline.com) A federal appeals court has ruled that U.S. Rep. John Murtha, of Johnstown, cannot be sued for accusing U.S. Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians “in cold blood.” But that doesn’t make what Murtha said right or any less offensive to our military men and women. [READ]

AP: Former Marine’s Murtha lawsuit revised

PITTSBURGH (AP) – U.S. Rep. John Murtha shouldn’t be immune from a defamation lawsuit for saying Marines killed Iraqi women and children “in cold blood,” because the lawmaker’s comments came outside the scope of his official duties, a former Marine’s attorney said.

The attorney, Noah Geary, on Wednesday filed an amended federal defamation lawsuit on behalf of Justin Sharratt, 24, a former lance corporal from Canonsburg. The new complaint, which adds 13 paragraphs to a lawsuit originally filed in September, was prompted by the dismissal of a similar suit against Murtha by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. [READ]

POLITICO: Murtha Mum on PMA Inquiry

(POLITICO) Rep. John P. Murtha can be found during House votes holding court in the “Murtha Corner” or “Pennsylvania Corner” of the chamber floor, laughing and joking with his fellow lawmakers or talking strategy about upcoming legislation. [READ]

NRO: Murtha Award “Dubious”

(NRO) After famously slandering a group of Marines, Rep. John Murtha (D., Penn.) is widely loathed by members of the U.S. military. Yet, for some reason, the Navy just gave him its highest civilian award.

FOX: Murtha’s Definition of “Corruption”

(FOXNEWS) Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha says that if he is guilty of any political misdeeds, there is good reason for it. Murtha tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district. My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care of what we see is necessary.” [READ]

NYT: Earmarks of a Scandal

(NYT) The Justice Department is investigating whether PMA used illegal straw donors to lard the campaign kitties of cooperative lawmakers. The firm — which shut itself down after being raided by federal agents — fed and fed richly off the defense appropriations subcommittee led by Representative John Murtha, the House baron of Pentagon spending. [READ]

Lobbyists Toast 35-Year Patron Jack Murtha

(AP) Rep. John Murtha celebrated his 35th anniversary as a congressman by getting an early start on his next campaign, staging an invitation-only fundraising luncheon for dozens of lobbyists and defense contractors at the private Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. [READ]

Murtha Navy Award Draws Protest

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who once accused U.S. Marines of killing “innocent” Iraqi civilians “in cold blood,” has received a Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. Navy, to the disgust of some Americans. [READ]

CBS News Expose on Murtha Contracts

(CBS News) Few politicians are as polarizing as Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha. Voters in his district love all the federal funding he lines up for projects back home. But critics call him the king of earmarks who wastes a lot of taxpayer money. Now, the FBI is taking a close look at some of those projects, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. [READ]

CQ-Politics Follows Murtha’s Cash for Earmarks Game

(CQ Politics) A defense lobbyist and his family made $1.5 million in political contributions from 2000 through 2008 as the lobbyist’s now-embattled firm helped clients win billions of dollars in federal contracts. A sizable chunk of those campaign dollars went to the House members who control Pentagon spending. [READ]