Murtha's Nephew Got Defense Contracts Without Competition?

 by Damozel | Pennsylvania Representative John Murtha has -- as WaPo puts it -- "significant sway over the Defense Department's spending as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee." So the stories go on and on. (WaPo)

His nephew says that the award of defense contracts to his company (Murtec) has nothing to do with his being Murtha's nephew (he doesn't "advertise the fact") and he's sorry that the relationship (and his getting the contract with no competition) might have the appearance of impropriety.  Murtha's nephew says his company got the work because they were uniquely qualified to do it.  (WaPo)

Of course, there is this:

Over the years, John Murtha has proudly claimed credit for using his Appropriations Committee seat to steer hundreds of millions in Pentagon work to companies in his district, many of them fledgling enterprises run by campaign contributors. His influence also may be seen in the military improvements at the Johnstown airport that bears his name. The little-used commuter airport doubles as a wartime preparedness facility for the Pentagon after $30 million in improvements.

Murtha's power has had beneficial effects within his family. His brother, Robert C. "Kit" Murtha, built a longtime lobbying practice around clients seeking defense funds through the Appropriations Committee and became one of the top members of KSA, a lobbying firm whose contractor clients often received multimillion-dollar earmarks directed through the committee chairman.

Robert C. Murtha Jr. of Murtech is Kit Murtha's son....Murtech received its contracts primarily from the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., which has been generous to companies in John Murtha's district and enjoys a close relationship with the congressman through a mutual interest in breast cancer research.  (WaPo)

But then there is also this:

Robert Murtha Jr. says the no-bid arrangement was "the government's choice" and occurred because the government "got itself in a bind." A contract with SA Scientific of San Antonio was about to lapse, and the command needed Murtech, then serving as a subcontractor to the Texas company, to store materials for the military's Critical Reagents Program. The program produces lab materials that can be used in handheld devices and sensors to detect the presence of biological toxins. ...

In justifying the award, the command said in a spring 2007 notice that "Murtech, Inc. possesses a unique combination of certain essential capabilities" to perform the warehousing.

Leo Fratis, the Army contracting officer who handled the matter, said there was "nothing improper" about the contract. He said it was awarded on a no-bid basis only because the Army command "had a lot of things going on at the time."

Pentagon spokesman Julius Evans said the congressman never contacted the Army command about his nephew's company and has no say in its procurement decisions. (WaPo)

There seem to be no allegations that the Pentagon didn't get its money's worth.  There's also no evidence that Murtec received direct Congressional earmarks.(WaPo)   At present, there are merely concerns that the government didn't get the best possible deal for those taxpayer bucks. 

Steve Ellis, a spokesman for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, said contracts to Murtech raise questions about whether taxpayers are getting the best value. "Historically we're always concerned when there is a sole-source or single-bidder contract," he said. "By definition, the taxpayer isn't necessarily getting the best deal possible. And certainly when you see the company has close ties to one of the most powerful appropriators in Congress, our antenna really perks up."

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