Did Murtha violate House ethics rules?

Pelosi and Company, made promises about being the most ethical Congress ever. Two words................Jack Murtha....................followed by two more...................Bull S^&*



A published report that U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha “threatened to withdraw support from a defense project” after a spat with fellow U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt may have placed him afoul of House ethics rules, research by the Majority Accountability Project (majorityap.com) has found.
The Code of Official Conduct of the U.S. House of Representatives states that a Member “may not condition the inclusion of language to provide funding for a congressional earmark…on any vote cast by another Member.”
Another memorandum from the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct states that Members “are prohibited from taking or withholding any official action on the basis of…support of the involved individuals,” further noting that those rules apply to “all official actions taken by Members and staff, including with regard to legislation.”
According to the May 8, 2007, report in the Hill newspaper, Murtha was irate that Tiahrt voted against a $23 million project in Murtha’s district. Murtha allegedly retaliated “by unleashing a loud, finger-jabbing, spittle-spraying piece of his mind” against Tiahrt, threatening to withdraw his support for a project that would create between 800-1,000 jobs in the Kansas Republican’s district.
In addition to the advisory opinion from the House ethics committee, the Code of Ethics for Government Service states that government officials should “never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone.”
Murtha has been a controversial figure for more than 30 years.
In the early 1980’s, Murtha was named an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Abscam investigation, an FBI sting operation where agents posed as Arab sheiks and offered bribes to a host of elected officials. Six members of Congress - one Senator and five U.S. Representatives - were later convicted of conspiracy and taking bribes.
More recently, questions were raised about Murtha’s relationship with the lobbying firm of his brother, Robert “Kit” Murtha. According a 2005 Los Angeles Times study, Murtha authored legislation that “benefited at least 10 companies represented” by Kit Murtha’s firm, costing taxpayers almost $21 million dollars. Another employee of the firm was Carmen Scialabba, “who worked for Rep. Murtha for 27 years.”
Scialabba’s name surfaced in another report as well, after he founded a non-profit agency in Johnstown, Pa, in 2001. “The next year, with Scialabba still on his staff,” the Washington Post reported, “Murtha secured a half-million dollars for the group, the Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities (PAID), and put another $150,000 in the pipeline for 2003.”
In June, 2006, the Washington Times reported that Murtha “leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco.” According to that report, “Laurence Pelosi, nephew of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at the time was an executive of the company which owned the rights to the land.”
Earlier this year, Murtha was reportedly at the center of a controversy over Pelosi’s request for “a bigger, swankier government airplane than her Republican predecessor had used for trips back to her home.”
According to the San Francisco Chroncile, Murtha intervened on Pelosi’s behalf with Pentagon officials. “But he denied pressuring the Pentagon,” Edward Epstein wrote. "I don't need to pressure them,” Murtha told the reporter. “I just tell them what they need to do.”
The same story contained what some may consider a veiled threat by Murtha, when he criticized Pentagon staff. “They're making a mistake when they leak it because (Pelosi) decides on allocations for them,'' Murtha said.
Several newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Los Angeles Times, questioned whether controversies surrounding Murtha damaged his ultimately-unsuccessful bid for Majority Leader at the start of the 110th Congress