Rep. Ryan gives $63K in illegal campaign donations to US Treasury

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

With the redrawing of congressional districts for next year’s election posing a challenge to some incumbents, members of Congress representing the Mahoning and Shenango valleys increased their campaign war chests during the first three months of the year.

Everyone, that is, except U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.

It wouldn’t have been the case had Ryan not paid $63,750 on March 25 to the U.S. Treasury.

The amount is how much Ryan’s campaign received primarily in the 2006 and 2008 campaigns from Paul Magliocchetti, members of his family, friends and employees.

Magliocchetti is a once-powerful lobbyist sentenced in January to 27 months in federal prison after admitting he made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign donations to members of Congress, including Ryan.

Magliocchetti steered hundreds of millions of federal earmark dollars to military contractors clients of his firm, the PMA Group.

Lawyers who advised Ryan and other members of Congress who received “questionable contributions” from and through Magliocchetti to either refund the money or give it to the U.S. Treasury, said Hanna Kassis, Ryan’s campaign manager.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com. with details on finance reports from all of the region’s congressional representatives.