The more federal court documents you read, the less optimistic you become about Rep. John Murtha's future in politics.

Murtha, D-Pa., is the powerful chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. Over his 18 terms, he has been best known for his ability to bring federal pork projects to his home base in Johnstown.

But lately, defense contractors with ties to Murtha have been running afoul of federal prosecutors.

The latest potential problem for Murtha arose last week in federal court in Pittsburgh. Richard Ianieri, former president of Coherent Systems International of Doylestown, agreed in court documents to admit that he took $200,000 in bribes from a defense subcontractor. He is cooperating with investigators.

It's believed that the subcontractor is Kuchera Defense Systems of Somerset County. Murtha has been active in helping both firms get Pentagon contracts.

In 2006, the congressman announced that the two firms were working "virtually as one" on $30 million in defense projects. Murtha announced one year later that Kuchera had won a $100 million Air Force contract.

The criminal charges against Ianieri are the first to come out of a broad federal investigation into firms receiving military "earmarks" — spending projects specifically requested by individual members of Congress.

In January, agents from the Pentagon, the IRS and the FBI raided Kuchera's offices and searched the homes of the company's owners. In April, the Navy suspended Kuchera for alleged fraud.

There's no indication that Murtha is a target in these probes, and Murtha has said the allegations have nothing to do with him. But he has benefited politically from firms he helped to secure military contracts.

Employees of Kuchera and their family members have donated at least $61,000 to Murtha's election committee since 2002, and an additional $6,000 to his political action committee.

Ianieri and other officials at the Doylestown firm have donated $34,700 to Murtha's reelection campaign or his political action committee since 2003.

A prominent defense lobbying firm, PMA Group, was founded by a former Murtha congressional staffer. In the 2006 election cycle alone, PMA and 11 of its clients contributed $274,649 to Murtha in campaign donations. In the 2006 defense appropriations bill, those firms received at least $95 million in military earmarks.

PMA, whose offices were raided by the feds last year, is under investigation for allegedly making "straw man" donations to lawmakers.

Despite all of this, the Democrat-controlled House in March refused to proceed with a sensible call by Republicans to investigate the lobbying firm. The House also rejected an effort to cut any earmarks for PMA clients in a $410 billion spending bill.

It's not clear where these probes will lead. But it's clear that Murtha is becoming more of a headache, not less of one, for his Democratic colleagues.

— The Philadelphia Inquirer