Federal law enforcement officials have issued grand jury subpoenas to the congressional office, campaign committee and employees of Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., for information and documents relating to the PMA Group, a now-defunct defense lobbying firm the FBI raided in November.
Visclosky is among a group of lawmakers including Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Jim Moran, D-Va., who received hefty campaign contributions from PMA and its clients and who approved millions of dollars in earmarks for those companies. Several watchdog groups have called for the House ethics committee to investigate the three lawmakers to determine whether they were influenced by the campaign contributions.
According to Jim Ellis, of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Visclosky steered $34.2 million in earmarks to PMA clients in fiscal 2008 and 2009. In 2008, he received $146.950 in campaign cash from those earmark recipients. The 2009 campaign contributions are not yet available.
Visclosky issued a statement Friday acknowledging the subpoenas.
“It is my intention to fully cooperate with the investigation consistent with my constitutional obligations to Congress and my duties and responsibilities to my constituents,” Visclosky said. “I will continue to work hard to represent the people of Indiana’s First Congressional District as I have done since being elected to Congress. I am confident that at the end of this process, no one will conclude that I have done anything wrong or harmed my constituents in any way.”
