U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky's office confirmed Monday he has hired a nationwide law firm in the wake of a continuing federal probe into congressional campaign contributions and one of the Merrillville congressman's top contributors.
Visclosky spokesman Jacob Ritvo said the congressman is seeking advice from Perkins Coie, a pre-eminent firm assisting federally elected officials with campaign finance law.
It comes four months after the FBI raided the offices of The PMA Group, of Arlington, Va., a firm that had been Visclosky's biggest single source of campaign cash before it closed its doors last month.
The New York Times reported this weekend that federal investigators appear to be examining Visclosky's relationship with PMA.
The U.S. attorney's office in Hammond declined comment on any federal investigation. A spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolis office couldn't be reached Monday for comment.
Visclosky told The Times in February he didn't expect to be hiring a lawyer in the matter because he had not done anything wrong.
Ritvo said Monday, "Neither Congressman Visclosky nor any members of his staff have heard from law enforcement officials of any kind regarding this case. Any suggestion that he is a subject of the investigation is based entirely on speculation."
Ritvo said Visclosky has voluntarily reviewed his campaign finance reports and found only minor errors that since have been corrected. The congressman said earlier he is returning $16,000 from two donors linked to PMA.
Ritvo confirmed Visclosky has "sought legal counsel from a top FEC compliance law firm to ensure his FEC filings adhere to the letter of the law."
Some of Visclosky's earmarks over the years have gone to PMA's clients, including many of Visclosky's top political donors. Visclosky recruited some of those clients to open offices in the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana in Merrillville.
Visclosky announced this weekend he will ask for more than $140 million in new earmarks next year. The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper, reported this weekend that none of those requests includes former PMA clients.
Visclosky earmarked $116 million last year to cities, towns and private vendors, the second-highest total of any individual congressmen, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that considers the practice of earmarking to be wasteful spending.
