Sanction lifted on Murtha-related company

The U.S. Navy has lifted a suspension on government work on Kuchera Defense Systems, a contractor with ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) whose offices were raided by the FBI earlier this year.

The agreement comes even though the Justice Department seems to be intensifying its investigation, according to a report in the Associated Press.

An attorney for Kuchera told the AP that the firm was removed from the Navy’s Excluded Parties List System because Kuchera made some accounting adjustments that satisfied the Navy.

The larger investigation is focused on campaign donations from defense contractors to members of Congress and the earmarks that those firms, in turn, receive.

Murtha has directed millions of dollars in earmarks to Kuchera and several other Pennsylvania-area defense contractors, and he those same firms have showered him with campaign donations.

–Susan Crabtree