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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Visclosky aide offered earmarks for campaign donation, convicted lobbyist said |
| 2014-09-20 |
| [Washington Post] Lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti told the FBI that an aide to Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) offered him legislative earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions annually for about a decade, according to newly released FBI files. The lobbyist -- who pleaded guilty to illegally funneling $386,000 in campaign donations to politicians -- said a representative of Visclosky's office first approached him in 1997 and told him earmarks were "for sale" for $10,000 to $15,000 in campaign cash for Visclosky, the documents show. When Visclosky later became chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee for energy and water development, the price for earmarks increased to $20,000, Magliocchetti told the FBI, according to the files. The allegations -- contained in documents released as part of a public-records lawsuit -- shed new light on a multi-year corruption investigation by the FBI into Magliocchetti's former lobbying firm, PMA Group, and its ties with a network of House appropriators, including Visclosky and the late congressman John Murtha (D-Pa.). Maglioccchetti was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 2010, but no charges were ever brought against Visclosky or any of his aides. Neither a front man for Visclosky -- who is now ranking Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee -- nor Visclosky's attorneys responded to calls Thursday requesting comment. In 2010, Visclosky's attorneys, Reid Weingarten and Brian Heberlig, told the House Ethics Committee ...think of a nudibranch pretending to be a vertebrate... that the politician's actions were "examples of typical fundraising practices that members have historically engaged in on a widespread and routine basis without recrimination." Visclosky stepped aside as chairman of the energy subcommittee after his office and political committees were subpoenaed in 2009. His longtime chief of staff also resigned. The House Office of Congressional Ethics in February 2010 released a report concluding there was probable cause that Visclosky sought contributions in exchange for earmarks, citing among other things e-mails in which company lobbyists said they and others seeking earmarks had been asked to donate $20,000 to Visclosky and were invited to attend a campaign fundraising event. |
| Posted by:Fred |