Murtha the 2nd time around ...

After blasting Rep. John Murtha on his "redploy to Okinawa" lunacy, Robert Novak takes a look back at Murtha's Congressional career:

... Jack Murtha proves there are second acts in American politics. I had forgotten that federal prosecutors designated him an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam investigation 26 years ago. I was reminded of it after Murtha became a candidate for majority leader, not by a Republican hit man but a Democratic former colleague in the House. In a long political career, Murtha has made bitter enemies inside his party who are alarmed by his new stature.

Murtha got into politics in 1968 as a 36-year-old highly decorated Marine and in 1974 became the first Vietnam War veteran elected to Congress. By 1980, Murtha was a lieutenant of Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill and was moving to the top in the House when the FBI named him as one of eight members of Congress videotaped being offered bribes by a phony Arab sheik.

The other seven congressional targets took cash and were convicted in federal court. The videotape showed Murtha declining to take cash but expressing interest in further negotiations, while bragging about his political influence. Murtha testified against the popular Rep. Frank Thompson in the Abscam case, which created lifelong enemies in the Democratic cloakroom. The House Ethics Committee exonerated Murtha of misconduct charges by a largely party-line vote, after which the committee's special counsel resigned in protest.

That salvaged Murtha's political career but limited his public exposure. The current Almanac of American Politics says: "He speaks for attribution to few national or local reporters, hardly ever appears on television and rarely speaks in the House chamber." That reticence has disappeared the last seven months, as he became one of the party's most visible faces.

Murtha now wears his heroic combat record like a suit of armor. In recent House debate over the Iraq war resolution, Murtha dominated the Democratic side -- compensating for a lack of articulation with vehemence. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a freshman Republican from Texas, had the temerity to suggest that had Murtha "prevailed after the bloodbaths in Normandy and in the Pacific ... we would be here speaking Japanese or German." Murtha pounced on Gohmert, asking whether he had been in Normandy, Vietnam or Iraq as a combat solider. The Republican had not, and he meekly thanked Murtha for "all that he has done with the wounded."

Murtha disqualifies adversaries who have not tasted combat, which includes the vast majority in the Congress. He repeats the comparison between civilian officials in "air-conditioned chambers" and soldiers carrying "70 pounds every day facing IEDs." On "Meet the Press," Murtha referred to presidential adviser Karl Rove "sitting in his air conditioned office with his big, fat backside, saying, 'Stay the course!'"

The transfer of Murtha's tough-guy rhetoric from the back row of the hall of the House of Representatives to national television may not be what Democrats want communicating their side of the Iraq debate. It is why Murtha's candidacy for majority leader is cause for concern among serious Democrats.

For a more complete list of Murtha's less than illustrious career, let's turn to a post that we linked to here a few days ago:

Murtha's Murky Past

                                                    

                              

Here's some stuff I dug up with a cursory search on the Internet about John Murtha and his shady dealings. Also notice how he seems to be intertwined with Nancy Pelosi and her crime family...

From the Washington Post talking about Murtha, we have:

He had an ethical scrape in 1979, when he was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam bribery scandal and testified against two House colleagues.

In a June 13 front page article in the LA Times (reproduced here), we learn this about John Murtha:

WASHINGTON — When Congress passed the $417-billion Pentagon spending bill last year, Rep. John P. Murtha, the top Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, boasted about the money he secured to create jobs in his Pennsylvania district.

But the bill Murtha helped write also benefited at least 10 companies represented by a lobbying firm where his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, is a senior partner, according to disclosure records, interviews and an analysis of the bill by The Times.

Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting — whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for Rep. Murtha for 27 years — received a total of $20.8 million from the bill.

One of the clients, a small Arkansas maker of military vehicles, received $1.7 million, triple its total sales for 2004. Several other clients received money that represented more than half of their annual sales from last year.

KSA directly lobbied the congressman's office on behalf of seven companies that received money from the bill, records and interviews show. Among those clients, a firm based in Maryland received one of the larger individual awards, $4.2 million.

And a defense contractor based in Pennsylvania said he hired KSA on the recommendation of a top aide of the congressman.

Disclosure of Kit Murtha's ties to the lobbying firm prompted criticism from Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington watchdog group that tracks government spending.

"Family members lobbying family members is becoming an all-too-common phenomenon on Capitol Hill," he said. "What's even more troubling is that decisions about defense dollars are being made at family reunions rather than the halls of Congress."

Kit Murtha said in a phone interview that he did not lobby his brother's office and that he saw no problem working for a firm that did.

"Let's be honest, the name certainly creates some kind of impression, but I can't help that," he said. "We're not doing anything improper or underhanded. I'm entitled to make a living like the next guy."

Rep. Murtha and his staff declined to answer questions for this report. In public statements, the congressman has said money he inserted into the defense bill has helped make his district a center for national defense programs and has benefited the local economy.

From the blog American Spectator, we have this:

And what's more, Murtha's no stranger to congressional corruption scandals. Though eventually cleared by the House ethics committee (which means nothing legally), John Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandal. (Abscam was an FBI sting operation of members of Congress from 1978 to 1980 in which one senator and five representatives were convicted of bribery and conspiracy.) As the Cybercast News Service recently detailed, Murtha was videotaped telling an undercover FBI agent, "I'm not interested. I'm sorry... at this point." When the House ethics committee cleared Murtha in 1981, CNS reported, the committee's lead counsel, E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., quickly resigned. When asked by Roll Call if he had resigned because of the committee's Murtha vote, he said that would be "a logical conclusion."

The blog Flopping Aces quotes this from Roll Call:

In early 2004, Murtha reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A company called Lennar Inc. had right to the land, and Laurence Pelosi, nephew to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was an executive with the firm at that time.

Murtha also inserted earmarks in defense bills that steered millions of dollars in federal research funds toward companies owned by children of fellow Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D).

Even the ultra-leftist Village Voice said this about Murtha:

Being called a coward could turn out to be the least of Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha's problems. As the GOP fires up a counterattack against the ranking Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, Murtha's ties to his brother's lobbying firm are once again coming under scrutiny. Some 10 companies with ties to KSA Consulting, a lobbying firm where Murtha's brother Robert is a senior partner, got $20.8 million in defense contracts. The Los Angeles Times in June reported that the funding was passed as part of the Pentagon's overall $417 billion spending bill.

Roll Call recently reported Murtha leaning on Navy officials to transfer the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to San Francisco on land whose rights were at one time held by a company whose top execs included Laurence Pelosi, a relative of Nancy Pelosi's. Murtha is widely credited with being a prime figure in getting Pelosi the Democratic minority leader job in the House. Pelosi's office said the suggestion Pelosi was involved in any impropriety was "absolutely ludicrous."

Some Republicans want an ethics investigation. "I have read the articles about these appropriations projects that benefited his brother's lobbying firm," South Carolina Republican congressman Joe Wilson told Roll Call. "If there is a potential pattern where Congressman Murtha has helped other Democrats secure appropriations that also benefited relatives of those members, I believe this would be something that merits further review by the ethics committee." Investor's Business Daily recently suggested that Murtha might have jumped on the anti-war bandwagon to head off an ethics investigation into contract improprieties.

Anyone have the VIDEO from Diana Irey's appearance today on FoX "Dayside?"

Murtha Must Go!

Spport Diana Irey Visit her website and sign up for her email updates and a contribution to her campaign would help her get her word out and defeat Rep. John Murtha.

 

                              

Here's some stuff I dug up with a cursory search on the Internet about John Murtha and his shady dealings. Also notice how he seems to be intertwined with Nancy Pelosi and her crime family...

From the Washington Post talking about Murtha, we have:

He had an ethical scrape in 1979, when he was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam bribery scandal and testified against two House colleagues.

In a June 13 front page article in the LA Times (reproduced here), we learn this about John Murtha:

WASHINGTON — When Congress passed the $417-billion Pentagon spending bill last year, Rep. John P. Murtha, the top Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, boasted about the money he secured to create jobs in his Pennsylvania district.

But the bill Murtha helped write also benefited at least 10 companies represented by a lobbying firm where his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, is a senior partner, according to disclosure records, interviews and an analysis of the bill by The Times.

Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting — whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for Rep. Murtha for 27 years — received a total of $20.8 million from the bill.

One of the clients, a small Arkansas maker of military vehicles, received $1.7 million, triple its total sales for 2004. Several other clients received money that represented more than half of their annual sales from last year.

KSA directly lobbied the congressman's office on behalf of seven companies that received money from the bill, records and interviews show. Among those clients, a firm based in Maryland received one of the larger individual awards, $4.2 million.

And a defense contractor based in Pennsylvania said he hired KSA on the recommendation of a top aide of the congressman.

Disclosure of Kit Murtha's ties to the lobbying firm prompted criticism from Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington watchdog group that tracks government spending.

"Family members lobbying family members is becoming an all-too-common phenomenon on Capitol Hill," he said. "What's even more troubling is that decisions about defense dollars are being made at family reunions rather than the halls of Congress."

Kit Murtha said in a phone interview that he did not lobby his brother's office and that he saw no problem working for a firm that did.

"Let's be honest, the name certainly creates some kind of impression, but I can't help that," he said. "We're not doing anything improper or underhanded. I'm entitled to make a living like the next guy."

Rep. Murtha and his staff declined to answer questions for this report. In public statements, the congressman has said money he inserted into the defense bill has helped make his district a center for national defense programs and has benefited the local economy.

From the blog American Spectator, we have this:

And what's more, Murtha's no stranger to congressional corruption scandals. Though eventually cleared by the House ethics committee (which means nothing legally), John Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandal. (Abscam was an FBI sting operation of members of Congress from 1978 to 1980 in which one senator and five representatives were convicted of bribery and conspiracy.) As the Cybercast News Service recently detailed, Murtha was videotaped telling an undercover FBI agent, "I'm not interested. I'm sorry... at this point." When the House ethics committee cleared Murtha in 1981, CNS reported, the committee's lead counsel, E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., quickly resigned. When asked by Roll Call if he had resigned because of the committee's Murtha vote, he said that would be "a logical conclusion."

The blog Flopping Aces quotes this from Roll Call:

In early 2004, Murtha reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A company called Lennar Inc. had right to the land, and Laurence Pelosi, nephew to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was an executive with the firm at that time.

Murtha also inserted earmarks in defense bills that steered millions of dollars in federal research funds toward companies owned by children of fellow Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D).

Even the ultra-leftist Village Voice said this about Murtha:

Being called a coward could turn out to be the least of Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha's problems. As the GOP fires up a counterattack against the ranking Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, Murtha's ties to his brother's lobbying firm are once again coming under scrutiny. Some 10 companies with ties to KSA Consulting, a lobbying firm where Murtha's brother Robert is a senior partner, got $20.8 million in defense contracts. The Los Angeles Times in June reported that the funding was passed as part of the Pentagon's overall $417 billion spending bill.

Roll Call recently reported Murtha leaning on Navy officials to transfer the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to San Francisco on land whose rights were at one time held by a company whose top execs included Laurence Pelosi, a relative of Nancy Pelosi's. Murtha is widely credited with being a prime figure in getting Pelosi the Democratic minority leader job in the House. Pelosi's office said the suggestion Pelosi was involved in any impropriety was "absolutely ludicrous."

Some Republicans want an ethics investigation. "I have read the articles about these appropriations projects that benefited his brother's lobbying firm," South Carolina Republican congressman Joe Wilson told Roll Call. "If there is a potential pattern where Congressman Murtha has helped other Democrats secure appropriations that also benefited relatives of those members, I believe this would be something that merits further review by the ethics committee." Investor's Business Daily recently suggested that Murtha might have jumped on the anti-war bandwagon to head off an ethics investigation into contract improprieties.

Anyone have the VIDEO from Diana Irey's appearance today on FoX "Dayside?"

Murtha Must Go!

Spport Diana Irey Visit her website and sign up for her email updates and a contribution to her campaign would help her get her word out and defeat Rep. John Murtha.