Feds Raid Contractors With Ties to Murtha

Veteran Dem has steered $100M to probed company
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2009 9:16 AM CST
Feds Raid Contractors With Ties to Murtha
Rep. John Murtha, center, addresses supporters with Senator Bob Casey, right, and Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner outside a steel workers union hall in Latrobe, Pa. on Nov. 1, 2008.    (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Federal agents yesterday raided the offices and homes of two Pennsylvania defense contractors with strong ties to powerful Congressman John Murtha, Politico reports. The lawmaker has steered more than $100 million in federal contracts to the companies, and their employees have given more than $65,000 in contributions to Murtha. A US attorney would say only that it's an "ongoing investigation" and that ties to lawmakers are a part of it.

“We know nothing more than what we've read in the press today,” a Murtha spokesman tells the Wall Street Journal. Murtha, a member of the defense appropriations committtee, has long been aggressive on earmarks, which he defends as necessary for his economically depressed district. Republicans raised the issue in trying to unseat him in the last election.


(More John Murtha stories.)

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