OK, We Know From His Voting Record How Conservative Tim Holden Is, But Is He Corrupt Too?

Blue Dog congressman, Tim Holden (PA-17), insists that he and his fellow legislators are personally entitled to earmark our tax money. He bases this case on perceived tradition in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region. Stating that, he grew up and watched as Joe McDade and Dan Flood brought home the money and thought, that’s what congressmen are supposed to do.

One issue-- McDade and Flood were both indicted during their time for accepting bribes. Further, Flood was censured by the 96th Congress and pled guilty to bribery, eventually resigning from Congress in 1980.

Additionally, McDade, although later acquitted, was charged with conspiracy and racketeering after receiving gifts and trips for providing contracts to special interests.

And it seems Holden has learned well from his past congressmen.

In March 1995, Holden accepted a weekend getaway to NYC at the Waldorf Astoria from the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association as part of a lobbying effort for him to support a bill up on the uber-corrupt Blue Dog-dominated House Agriculture Committee.

If it wasn’t for the March 2010 decision by the House Appropriations Committee to ban earmarks to for-profit corporations, chances are Holden would have followed in the footsteps of McDade and Flood.

And that’s only beginning.

So we come to arguably one of the all-time most corrupt lobbying organizations in Washington, the PMA Group. PMA's founder and president, Paul Magliocchetti, was convicted of making hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal campaign contributions and subsequently sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and fined $75,000. Magliocchetti, was a king of a practice known as “straw contributions.” Where one, Maglioccheti, directed family members to make contributions to lawmakers, and then paid them back and did the same with numerous PMA employees.

The four largest recipients of funds from the PMA Group were the late John Murtha (D-PA), a former defense appropriations chairman, past chairman Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), and appropriations committee members Reps. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Pete Visclosky (D-IN).

Where’s Holden? Rest assured, the fifth largest recipient of PMA Group funds? Representative T. Timothy Holden, and go figure... he is the only non-appropriator in the top five. Holden too received campaign funds from all of the Magliocchetti cronies, including family members, associates, etc.

If you take the time to add up all contributions to Holden’s campaign by owners and executives of former PMA Group clients, Holden received nearly $150,000. During the same time $15 million was earmarked for the same PMA clients and most of these earmarks were spent outside Holden’s district.

I guess it is true what they, I mean Holden says, “Who’s going to contribute to your campaign, people you don’t help?”

But, yet again, it gets worse.

After the decimation of the PMA Group on March 31, 2009, Holden continued his ways. We come to Flagship Government Relations, who deals with Concurrent Technologies, Fidelity Technologies Corp. and L-3 Communications.

November 20, 2010 the Holden re-election campaign received a contribution from Paul T. Anderson, a lobbyist who in 2009 worked for Flagship Government Relations.

On the same day that Mr. Anderson made his contribution to Holden, so did: Francis Fogarty (partner at Flagship Government Relations), Julie Giardina (a federally-registered lobbyist and former staff member for the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee), and finally, Kalylene Green, the CEO of, yes, Flagship Government Relations.

While it is illegal for companies to make coordinated contributions, I suppose they were all inspired to give to Holden on the same day, with the same background and with extremely recognizable connections. The folks at Congress Watcher, however, weren't inclined to see it quite the same way.

“It’s against the law for companies, including lobbying firms, to make coordinated contributions to political campaigns. Yet, that’s just what appears to have happened on November 20, 2009. Are we really to suppose that the CEO, a partner, and two lobbyists from Flagship Government Relations, all of whom live in Virginia, far away from Representative Holden’s district, just so happened be personally inspired to give money to Holden all at the same time?”
 
We certainly don’t believe it to be a coincidence, and think it merits investigation. But putting the important issue of legality aside, the personnel of Flagship and their client list may be more telling. Those suggest an apparent connection between campaign contributions to Tim Holden and his earmarks. The article cites Flagship Government Relations clients Concurrent Technologies, Fidelity Technologies Corp, and L-3 Communications.
 
A Holden FY 2010 earmark gave Pentagon funds to MPRI for a program at Ft. Indiantown Gap. MPRI, a Washington-based company, is an L-3 Communications subsidiary. These are not the first funds Holden has received from L-3 lobbyists. They employ many.
 
Fidelity Technologies, a former client of the PMA Group. is also located outside Holden’s district, Holden’s FY2010 earmark requests included $6 million for Fidelity, though appropriators seem to have dropped it from the defense appropriations bill. His FY 2008 $4 million ($3.2 million awarded) for Fidelity was an earmark that caught the attention of the Associated Press and received negative press in their PMA Group scandal coverage. In addition to these funds and other lobbyist funds, Fidelity management and family members have donated more than $17,000 to Holden directly.
 
As you can tell from their headquarters address, Concurrent Technologies, Johnstown, another former PMA Group client has/had very close Jack Murtha connections. The company opened an office in a former AMP Inc. building on Friendship Road in Swatara Twp., possibly to improve their “friendship” with Tim Holden.
 
The donations to Holden and other members of Congress from principles and employees of Flagship Government Relations appear to have a similar pattern to that used by the PMA Group.
 
Pay-to-play is not a new charge for Washington politicians, but the appearance of quid pro quo here is unmistakable. Holden answered similar charges in 2008 with a memorable quote to the Allentown Morning Call: “Who is going to contribute to your campaign, people you don’t help?” Holden said, before adding: “There is no quid pro quo here.”
 
Quids and quos, but never a pro. The real scandal is that earmarks are legal. This is what passes for ethics in the United States Congress today.

In an attempt to pile it on, in January, 2006, Holden accepted $1,000 from a Jack Abramoff-tied firm. He was the only Pennsylvania Democrat to accept money in that whole Abramoff scandal. Reluctantly, Holden gave that tainted cash to charity when Abramoff was indicted.

In May, 1993, Holden wrote a letter of recommendation to the sentencing judge after coal baron James J. Curran, Jr. of Pottsville was sentenced to 6 months for filtering over $12,000 of his personal money through his employee's personal accounts.

But, that’s a story for next time… Meanwhile, I'd like to remind you that Blue America is very enthusiastic about the progressive Democrat running against Holden in the primary, Matt Cartwright, easily the single most likely progressive to replace a reactionary Blue Dog in 2012. If you'd like to help Matt's grassroots campaign do just that... here's the ActBlue page. If we don't clean up the filth and corruption, who will? It sure isn't going to be the insider political establishments... of either party.