13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |FEC advisory OKs Visclosky to use campaign funds

FEC advisory OKs Visclosky to use campaign funds

Washington - The Federal Election Commission has issued a draft advisory allowing Rep. Pete Visclosky to use campaign funds for the legal bills he's incurring in the federal investigation of a now-defunct defense lobbying firm.

Visclosky was subpoenaed this month in a federal investigation of PMA Group, a since-disbanded lobbying firm that specialized in securing defense contracts.

A spokesman for Visclosky declined to comment Friday.

In a request filed in March, Visclosky asked the FEC to allow him to use his campaign funds to pay for legal expenses incurred in the investigation.

At the time, Michael C. Matezewski, treasurer of the Visclosky for Congress Committee, wrote that, "although the details of the federal investigation are unknown, media reports insinuate that certain aspects of the investigation appear to relate to Congressman Visclosky's duties as a candidate for federal office and as a federal officeholder and would not exist irrespective of those duties."

According to the FEC's advisory ruling, Visclosky can use his campaign funds to pay legal bills because the allegations relate to his campaign and his duties as a federal officeholder. The ruling is not official until the FEC votes on it, which is expected next week.

Visclosky has been under scrutiny for his ties to PMA, which has been a top contributor to his political campaigns. In the last seven years, $1 out of every $5 in political donations came from employees or clients of PMA.

Visclosky is chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water and a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Earlier this month, he announced he had asked Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Arizona, to handle the House's Energy and Water appropriations bill for 2010.

Managing the bill is the primary task of the House Energy and Water Committee's chairman.

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