February 26, 2010

Contact: Matt Jacob // 202.408.5565

26 Feb 2010 // Washington D.C. - The House Ethics Committee today formally ended its investigation into seven members of Congress with troubling ties to the now-defunct lobbying house PMA Group. Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said today, “What a surprise that the Ethics Committee would once again clear members of Congress of wrongdoing. Apparently, in the committee’s view, no member of Congress ever earmarks as a result of a campaign contribution. Of course, the committee also determined that PMA Group lobbyists and their clients universally believed that the chances of obtaining an earmark were directly related to the amount of campaign contributions they made to members of Congress. But, hey, why let a little inconsistency like that get in the way of clearing members of wrongdoing – the raison d’etre of the committee.”

Click here [1] to read the Ethics Committee’s statement, and click here [2] to read the report.