Report: Justice Department Probes Contractor With Murtha Ties

The Department of Justice is probing a Pennsylvania contractor that has won millions in earmarks and contracts with the help of Rep. John Murtha, according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported Monday that federal investigators are looking into how Mountaintop Technologies got involved in distributing and monitoring local police grants.

The company has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to distribute the money, according to the article, but has received at least $36 million worth of earmarks and military contracts over the past eight years -- with the help of Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and no competition.

According to the article, company executives have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Murtha's campaigns and often distributed the police grant funding on behalf of Murtha before fall elections, and the firm even hired the lobbying company where Murtha's brother worked.

Mountaintop Technologies founder David Fyock told the Post that his company won the contracts on merit. "We are pretty darn good at managing contracts," he said.

But law enforcement sources said the police grants drew attention because the firm was a defense company with little law enforcement experience.

The probe is just the latest to raise questions about Murtha's ties to lobbyists and contractors. The firm of one Virginia lobbyist close to Murtha was raided by the FBI several months ago.

And the Post reported in early May that a company owned by Murtha's nephew received $4 million from the Defense Department last year for engineering and warehouse services.

Click here to read the full story on Murtha in The Washington Post.