The PMA Group is a defunct lobbying firm based in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

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 mus ...

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 American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Represent ...

(D-PA). In September 2007, the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (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 non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

),
Murtha Fundraiser Missed Donor Pal
, ''

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

'', 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 U.S. representative for from 1985 until his retirement in 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was the dean of the Indiana congressional d ...

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 to 1990, and as the U.S. representative for (including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington ...

. 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 and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

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