The PMA Group is a defunct lobbying firm based in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It was founded and owned by ex-House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense staffer Paul Magliocchetti.PMA to Cease Operations on March 31
/ref> The firm's annual lobbying income climbed steadily to its 2006 peak at $16.06 Million. In November 2008 the PMA Group's offices were raided by the FBI. The subsequent investigation into illegal

pay to play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mu ...

activities has led to the resignation of five of its senior lobbyists who started their own firm and brought clients with them. As a result, the firm ceased operations on March 31, 2009.

History and Personnel

The PMA Group was founded by Paul Magliocchetti in 1989.The PMA Group
For a decade, Magliocchetti worked as a senior staffer on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee under its chairman, U.S. Rep.

John Murtha John Patrick Murtha Jr. ( ; June 17, 1932 – February 8, 2010) was an Politics of the United States, American politician from the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, re ...

(D-PA). In September 2007, the nonprofit

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), is a progressive nonprofit 501(c)(3) watchdog organization devoted to U.S. government ethics and accountability.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 ...

(CREW) ranked Murtha, a congressman for thirty-six years, one of the twenty-two "most corrupt" members of Congress, due to "alleged ethics violations stemming “from abuse of his position on the subcommittee to benefit the lobbying firm of a former long-term staffer and for threatening to block earmarks of other members for political purposes." Since Magliocchetti's departure from the defense subcommittee, PMA and its clients have established themselves as "major contributors to Murtha's campaign committee," donating well over $200,000 to the 2002, 2004, and 2006 campaign cycles, for a total of $2.37 million.Yost, Pete, (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

),
Murtha Fundraiser Missed Donor Pal
, ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...

'', March 24, 2009, p. 6. Consequently, PMA's clients have received notable benefits from Murtha's earmarks. In 2006, for example, PMA clients were given "at least 60 earmarks totaling $95.1 million." Other congressmen contacted by PMA included

Pete Visclosky Peter John Visclosky ( ; born August 13, 1949) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1985 until his retirement in 2021. He is a member of the United States Democratic Pa ...

and

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, from 1985 until 1990, and as the U.S. representative for , including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arl ...

. In 2007 and 2008, Murtha, Visclosky, and Moran directed $137 million in government purchasing to PMA's clients. PMA's clients donated $1.36 million to Visclosky and $997,348 to Moran over the past ten years.Yost, Pete, (

),
Murtha Fundraiser Missed Donor Pal
, ''Washington Times'', March 24, 2009, p. 6. On or around November 25, 2008

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents raided PMA's offices and removed records of the firm's political action committee and files from some of its employees. According to the ''Washington Times'', the FBI is probing the appointment by Magliocchetti of two people from Florida, a hotel wine steward and a hotel golf director, to PMA's board of directors, along with his daughter and a PMA accountant whom Magliocchetti married in 2008. All of them, as well as several relatives of Magliocchetti's, made large campaign donations, raising the question of whether Magliocchetti has illegally reimbursed them.

References

{{reflist Lobbying firms