Congressman Norm Dicks has never been shy about accepting campaign donations from favor seekers.
Now the FBI is investigating one of Dicks' most generous donors — the powerhouse lobbying firm PMA Group.
Questions have been raised about whether some PMA-related campaign contributions were actually given by the people listed as donors. For example, thousands of dollars in contributions to Dicks, Washington Sen. Patty Murray and other lawmakers came from a sommelier and a golf-club employee who were identified as PMA officials on some campaign-finance reports. The investigation has prompted some lawmakers to distance themselves from the PMA-related contributions. Murray said she has donated $3,500 of her questionable contributions to Food Lifeline, a local charity. Other lawmakers have talked about doing something similar.
Dicks is waiting to see if the FBI finds any criminal wrongdoing before making a decision on his contributions. "If any of those contributions are judged improper, it'd be his intention to give them back," said Dicks' spokesperson George Behan.
The FBI raided PMA's office suite in Arlington, Va., last November, part of an investigation into possible improper campaign donations, according to media reports.
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