Rep. Murtha’s Connection to Kuchera Companies

What is Rep. Murtha’s connection to Bill and Ron Kuchera’s companies?  That’s the topic of this Post report.

In January, federal agents raided the ranch, along with the homes of Bill Kuchera and his younger brother Ron and the offices of two Kuchera companies. Federal authorities are investigating tips from company insiders suggesting that taxpayers were billed improperly for Kuchera family expenses and ranch renovations, according to sources familiar with the probe. Tens of millions of dollars in Defense Department contracts have flowed to Kuchera’s companies because of the local congressman, Democratic  Rep. John P. Murtha, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. The Navy recently suspended the company from future contracts while the investigation proceeds.

Kuchera also hired a high-powered lobbying firm, Ervin Technical Associates, whose chairman is longtime Murtha friend and former congressman Joseph M. McDade (R-Pa.). Kuchera employees and their spouses have donated more than $106,000 to Murtha’s political action and campaign committees.

According to Ervin Technical Associates’ (ETA) website, they have an employee who “coordinates fund-raisers and events for political candidates of special interest to ETA.”

The Post has another article about the Kucheras’ past here.

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