PMA Group investigation, Pacific Northwest edition
By Bill Allison Mar 23 2009 12:54 p.m. 1 commentDavid Heath of the Seattle Times reports on PMA Group's contributions to Rep. Norm Dicks and the earmarks he secured for their clients (there's a database for all of Congress here, and Dicks' earmarks are here.)
Congressman Norm Dicks has never been shy about accepting campaign donations from favor seekers.Now the FBI is investigating one of Dicks' most generous donors " the powerhouse lobbying firm PMA Group.
Read the whole thing. This bit really caught my eye:
The sheer volume of donations from PMA lobbyists raises questions. For example, Sandra K. Welch retired from PMA two years ago as a lobbyist with expertise in education. Her husband was a police officer in Fairfax County, Va. They now live in a Florida home for which they paid about $197,000, according to real-estate records.Between 2003 and 2006, the couple contributed $121,000 to congressional campaigns as well as $5,000 annually to PMA's political-action committee. From 2001 to 2006, the couple contributed $12,300 to Dicks' campaign, with the Fairfax police officer listed in campaign-disclosure records as a PMA consultant.
Welch, reached at home, said she did not feel comfortable talking about PMA Group.
Stay tuned. Heath, by the way, is the repo
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[...] noted here, Rep. Norm Dicks is one of the more prolific PMA Group earmarks, and is number four on the list of [...]