Murtha Fundraising Rolls On
Fundraising for Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) appears to be unaffected by the reports of FBI investigations swirling around him.On Monday, Murtha’s campaign reported that in the first quarter of this year, it received campaign contributions totaling $253,555.Nearly every dime of the receipts came after Jan. 22 press reports that the FBI had raided Kuchera Defense, a contractor with close ties to Murtha, and a Feb. 9 report that the FBI had raided the offices of the PMA Group last fall.The PMA Group and its clients have provided Murtha with tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations every year, and Murtha has provided the firm’s clients with millions of dollars in earmarks.Murtha has not been charged with any wrongdoing in either case, and his quarterly report indicates no payments to law firms, beyond a $2,800 debt to Perkins Coie, consistent with his reports in prior years.In the first quarter after his 2004 re-election, Murtha collected $102,000 in donations and reported $765,000 in cash on hand. In the comparable period after his 2006 re-election, he reported $545,000 in donations and $592,000 in cash on hand.As of Monday’s filing, Murtha had only about $333,000 on hand.