by Lindsay Renick Mayer www.OpenSecrets.com | Permalink

Richard Ianieri, the defense contractor charged today with accepting $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor, was president of a company that gave more money to Rep. John Murtha than any other lawmaker. That company, Coherent Systems International, received millions of dollars in earmarks from Murtha, and continued giving money to the Pennsylvania Democrat after Ianieri left Coherent and Argon ST bought it.

The criminal complaint filed yesterday reportedly did not name the subcontractor, according to Roll Call.

In total, the employees of Coherent, and employees and political action committees of Argon and its subsidiaries, have given $81,950 to Murtha's campaign committee and leadership PAC since the 2004 election cycle, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis.

Murtha has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But the congressman ranks as the top recipient of funds from now-defunct lobbying firm, PMA Group, and its defense-related clients.

The firm worked for a number of companies that sought federal earmarks from the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which Murtha chairs. We've written extensively about this issue and you can find the most recent roundup of data here.
Coherent and Argon have given a total of $282,900 to federal candidates, party committees and leadership PACs since the 2004 election cycle.

Of that, 78 percent went to Democrats. This includes contributions from Coherent only, before Argon bought it in 2007, and donations from the two combined in the 2008 election cycle onward.

Here are the recipients of these companies' cash in the 111th Congress: 

(scroll down for Abercrombie's corrupt campaign cash from the military-industrial complex)

Name Total

Rep. John P Murtha (D-Pa) $81,950

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla) $16,900

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va) $14,900

Rep. Patrick J Murphy (D-Pa) $13,200

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa) $11,300

Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind) $9,200

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif) $6,000

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif) $5,000

Rep. Robert A Brady (D-Pa) $4,000

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) $4,000

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) $4,000

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) $4,000

Pres. Barack Obama (D) $2,500

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va) $2,300

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) $2,100

Rep. Robert E Andrews (D-NJ) $2,000

Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) $2,000

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) $2,000

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) $2,000

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) $2,000

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif) $2,000

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) $1,500

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif) $1,500

Rep. C W Bill Young (R-Fla) $1,300

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa) $1,000

Rep. Frank R Wolf (R-Va) $1,000

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa) $500

Rep. Frank A LoBiondo (R-NJ) $500

Ianieri alone gave a total of $53,500 in political contributions since the 2004 election cycle, including $13,500 to Murtha. Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), who, with the exception of Murtha, collected more than any other current lawmaker from Ianieri, was subpoenaed by the FBI in May for information related to PMA Group.

These are the current lawmakers who have received money from Ianieri since the 2004 cycle (including to their candidate committees and leadership PACs):

Name  Total

Rep. John P Murtha (D-Pa)  $13,500

Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind)  $9,200

Rep. Patrick J Murphy (D-Pa)  $5,300

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa)  $2,300

Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas)  $2,000

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)  $1,500

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa)  $1,000

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa)  $1,000

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa)  $500

CRP Senior Researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.