Updated: 7:26 p.m.The House ethics committee is investigating the PMA Group and its ties to lawmakers, the panel confirmed Thursday.The announcement comes eight days after the House called on the committee to disclose within 45 days whether it is probing the now-defunct lobbying firm’s dealings with senior Democratic appropriators. The panel started its investigation before House Democratic leaders engineered the call for its disclosure, ethics Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and ranking member Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) said in their statement.The ethics leaders said the panel is probing “certain, specified allegations within the Committee’s jurisdiction.” While the statement did not name the targets of its investigation, the PMA controversy has centered on a small clutch of senior Democratic appropriators, namely Reps. John Murtha (Pa.), Peter Visclosky (Ind.) and Jim Moran (Va.). Democratic leaders for months resisted confronting the scandal head-on but changed course after Visclosky disclosed over the Memorial Day recess that his Congressional and campaign offices and some staffers had been subpoenaed as part of a federal grand jury investigation into the matter.