By Frankie Freeman
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb 18, 2010 -- Just weeks after his acquittal from a four-year probe by the Department of Justice over possible ethics violations, Representative Alan B Mollohan’s (D-WV) principles are in doubt once more. Last quarter, ending December 31 2009, Mollohan received substantial campaign donations from agencies with which he has personal and real estate ties.
Several tenants of the congressman’s Alan B Mollohan Innovation Center, a large office complex that was built in 1996 and features, among other things, a large bronze bust of Mollohan in the lobby, have significant financial associations with the congressman, both directly and through lobbying firms.
Information technology firm Information Manufacturing Corp and security corporation ManTech International Corp both rent office space at the Mollohan Innovation Center. They also both appear in the list of Mollohan’s top ten campaign donors of 2009/2010, having contributed $9,600 and $7,900 this year respectively. In return, Mollohan has directed generous earmarks to the companies, including $84 million to IMC between 2000 and 2008.
Another link between many of the center’s tenants and Mollohan can be found in lobbying firm Robinson International, another prominent donor to Mollohan’s campaign. Randall West, a Robinson International lobbyist, has represented Mollohan in the past and currently lobbies for several firms based at the Mollohan Innovation Center. Four of West’s prominent clients – Azimuth Inc, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, as well as IMC, - are among Mollohan’s top career donors. This year alone, Boeing contributed $8,000 to Mollohan’s campaign. Over the years, employees of Robinson International are reported to have added $34,000 to Mollohan’s campaign coffers. West denies that his lobbying relationship with Mollohan poses any ethical problems.
This isn’t the first time that Mollohan’s financial dealings have come under scrutiny. In February 2006, the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint against Mollohan, alleging misrepresentation of assets on the congressman’s financial disclosure forms. According to the NLPC, Mollohan failed to correctly disclose assets belonging to him and his wife, which increased from $562,000 in 2000 to $6.3 million in 2004. In addition, Mollohan was investigated for $250 million in earmark funding for non-profits in West Virginia run by close associates.
Although the charges, which Mollohan described as “a politically-motivated assault” on his character, were later dropped, the investigation prompted Mollohan to step down from the House Ethics Committee.
Mollohan’s press office could not be reached for comment on the congressman’s latest campaign finance controversy, despite repeated phone calls.
Mollohan faces Democrat R.J. Smith and Republicans David McKinley, Cindy Hall, Randy Smith, Daniel Scott Swisher, Patricia VanGilder Levenson, Thomas Stark, Sarah Minear and Mac Warner in the 2010 Democratic Primary in May.
