Murtha Donors Raided By Feds
A recent FBI raid on a Pennsylvania defense contractor has reopened old questions about the ethics and staying power of Rep. John Murtha.
Brothers Ron and Bill Kuchera are top executives with Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems. The offices of these companies were raided late last month apparently in connection with concerns about possible misuse of corporate funds.
At the same time, federal agents raided the Kuchera brothers' homes and a game ranch owned by Bill Kuchera.
The Kuchera brothers are important supporters of Rep. Murtha – and thanks to his good offices, large recipients of federal dollars. In 2008, for example, Murtha earmarked $8.2 million for Kuchera enterprises. On the other side of the ledger, Murtha has received over $56,000 in campaign contributions from Kuchera staff in recent years. Both Ron and Bill Kuchera as well as Bill Kuchera's wife, Lena, donated the legal maximum to Murtha's 2008 campaign. Over the past five years, the Kucheras have collectively donated about $24,000 to Murtha's campaign committee. In addition, Bill Kuchera's ranchÑdubbed "LBK" for himself and his wife-- was in fact used as a venue for an August 2008 fundraiser benefiting Murtha.
The relationship between the Kucheras and Murtha goes deeper still. Bill Kuchera served on the board of the Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities, another beneficiary of Murtha-directed federal funds and an organization founded by 27-year veteran Murtha aide Carmen Scialabba. Kuchera's lobbying on Capitol Hill is done by Ervin Technical Associates (ETA)Ña firm whose president and board chairman are both reportedly close to Murtha, with firm president Jim Ervin having once served as a Pentagon liaison to the House of Representatives.
No charges have been laid in the Kuchera matter, and it would be premature to assume that the raids had anything to do with the Murtha-Kuchera connection. But we do know that Murtha is frequently tagged as being one of the leading practioners of "pay to play" politics in Congress.
In the two weeks immediately prior to the 2008 election, Murtha tapped employees of nine defense contractors for $40,000 in campaign contributions. Those contractors in turn had received $60.6 million in Murtha earmarks.
In previous cycles too, Murtha has collected large donations from recipients of federal money.
Murtha's district has until now shown little concern for ethics issues. In 2006, Republicans hoped that challenger Diana Irey might make good use of the ethics issue. Instead, Murtha beat her with 60.8 percent of the vote. Last year, running against Republican Bill Russell, Murtha won with a nearly equally impressive 57.9 percent of the vote. It looks like the priority of many people in Pennsylvania's 12th district is bringing home the bacon. They don't seem very concerned that much of that bacon seems to be headed to people like the KucherasÑperhaps because they run businesses that employ about 300 people within the district.
The FBI however may take a different view – and that may signal that in this era of "change," change may yet reach John Murtha.