Murtha’s money

Murtha’s money

Philadelphia Inquirer: The more federal court documents you read, the less optimistic you become about Rep. John Murtha’s future in politics.

Murtha, D-Pa., is the powerful chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. Over his 18 terms, he has been best known for his ability to bring federal pork projects to his home base in tiny Johnstown.

But lately, defense contractors with ties to Murtha have been running afoul of federal prosecutors.

The latest potential problem for Murtha arose last week in federal court in Pittsburgh. Richard Ianieri, former president of Coherent Systems International of Doylestown, agreed in court documents to admit that he took $200,000 in bribes from a defense subcontractor. He is cooperating with investigators.

It’s believed that the subcontractor is Kuchera Defense Systems of Johnstown. Murtha has been active in helping to get both companies contracts from the Pentagon.

Two for one

In 2006, the congressman announced that the two firms were working “virtually as one” on $30 million in defense projects. Murtha announced one year later that Kuchera had won a $100 million Air Force contract.

The criminal charges against Ianieri are the first to come out of a broad federal investigation into firms receiving military “earmarks” — spending projects specifically requested by individual members of Congress.

In January, agents from the Pentagon, the IRS, and the FBI raided Kuchera’s offices and searched the homes of the company’s owners. In April, the Navy suspended Kuchera for alleged fraud.

There’s no indication that Murtha is a target in these probes, and Murtha has said the allegations have nothing to do with him. But he has benefited politically from firms he helped to secure military contracts.

It’s not clear where these probes will lead. But it’s crystal clear that Murtha is becoming more of a headache, not less of one, for his Democratic colleagues.