Tim Murphy

Timothy Murphy has been a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, since 2003.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Allegations by legislative staff members
Murphy was challenged for reelection in 2006 by Democrat Chad Kluko. During the campaign, Kluko’s former campaign manager, Marty Marks, informed the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of allegations that Murphy had been using his legislative staff in Pennsylvania to perform campaign activities, a violation of House ethics rules and federal law. Following the allegations, the paper interviewed six Murphy staffers. Each of the six acknowledged working on campaign activities and that they were disturbed by Murphy’s conduct. Among their allegations was that: 


 * Murphy and his campaign staff frequently used his Mt. Lebanon, Pa. office for campaign strategy sessions, as well as equipment such as the office's fax, copier, camera and filing cabinets for campaign-related materials (rather than his separate campaign office a few miles away).
 * Members of his taxpayer-paid staff were expected to have campaign materials with them at all times when accompanying the congressman, in case he wished to provide them to constituents.
 * When congressional staff members, including unpaid interns, were sent to drop off official literature throughout the district in the summer of 2006, they were instructed to stop only at the homes of registered voters.
 * Multiple staff members from the district office were instructed in December 2005 to devote their time to labeling, stuffing and mailing greeting cards to individuals who were Murphy campaign contributors. The postage and materials were paid by his campaign fund, but several staffers said they performed the functions in the middle of the government workday, rather than on their own time.

In addition to these accusations, staff members also leaked several documents which indicated that they performed campaign-related activities. The leaked materials included:


 * A document that shows “background research” performed by staff members on constituents who wrote letters to the editor
 * Documents that indicate campaign work being handled through the district office.
 * A document showing a planned teleconference with John Braebender, a media consultant for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.)

Emily Campbell, a staff member from June 2003 to February 2006, said, “Congressman Murphy would very often say, 'Don't you people care about your jobs? If I'm not re-elected, you don't have jobs.'" Campbell said that in her view, the use of staff time for holiday cards to donors was the most questionable activity she knew of Murphy directing.

House ethics rules say that no campaign activities may take place in any congressional office, and use of office resources such as equipment, supplies or files is prohibited. The guidelines also say that staff may do campaign work on a volunteer basis, but only outside the congressional office. In addition, they may not be compelled to do such work. The use of taxpayer funded staff to perform campaign work also violates federal law. 

When presented with the accusations, Murphy neither confirmed nor denied them. Instead, he said he would seek a congressional investigation of his own conduct.  In early November 2006, KDKA News reporter Andy Sheehan confronted Murphy on camera with evidence of the accusations. Murphy took some of the documents from Sheehan and refused to return them. According to the report, the confiscated documents revealed that Murphy's legislative office was doing campaign work. 

In 2008, Murphy paid more than $28,000 in legal fees. As of early 2009, Murphy did not pay any legal fees.

Murphy fires staffer
Following his reelection, Murphy fired Jayne O'Shaughnessy, a staffer who had reported the allegations and had allowed herself to be identified in the press. She was dismissed for disregarding a staff prohibition against speaking to the press. 

Federal investigation reported by Pittsburgh news station
In December 2006, KDKA-TV of Pittsburgh reported that federal authorities had begun to interview staff for an investigation related to the matter. Mark Carpenter, Murphy's press secretary, initially declined to comment on the report of an investigation, but acknowledged that the lawmaker had forwarded similar allegations to the House Ethics Committee for review. He stated that Murphy "welcomes a robust review of all claims." Bill Crowley, special agent for the FBI in Pittsburgh, would not comment on whether an investigation had begun. 

Background
Murphy was born September 12, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied at Wheeling Jesuit University, and received an MA from Cleveland State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Upon leaving school, he became a practicing psychologist and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He also made regular appearances on KDKA-TV television station in Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1995 as a health care expert.

Elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1996 from Upper St. Clair, Murphy served as chair of the Pennsylvania Committee on Aging and Youth and wrote the Pennsylvania Patient Bill of Rights. Despite his stance as a fiscal conservative, he pushed for increased public funding for medical research.

Congressional Career
Murphy ran for the newly redrawn 18th Congressional District in southwestern Pennsylvania in 2002. The district had previously been the 20th, represented by four-term Democrat Frank Mascara. However, the legislature drew the district in such a way that a large chunk of Mascara's territory ended up in the neighboring Johnstown-based 12th District, represented by 18-year incumbent John Murtha. Even though Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 70,000 registered voters, the district had a history of voting Republican. After a legal battle, the courts largely upheld Pennsylvania's redistricting plan after some minor modifications.

In 2002, Murphy ran against Democrat Jack Machek. Murphy, who had high name recognition as a State Senator and former KDKA consultant, outspent Machek by an 8 to 1 margin. Murphy ultimately beat Machek by 20 points. Murphy was reelected in 2004 by a similar margin over Democratic challenger Mark Boles.

2006 elections
In 2006, Democrats nominated Chad Kluko to face Murphy in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Murphy retained his seat.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Energy and Commerce
 * Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials
 * Subcommittee on Health
 * Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Energy and Commerce
 * Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
 * Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials

More Background Data
''Wikipedia also has an article on Tim Murphy. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.''
 * 2006 Pennsylvania CD 18 Candidate List from VIS

External resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * Document showing “background research” performed by staff members on constituents who wrote letters to the editor.
 * Document showing a planned teleconference with John Braebender, a media consultant for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).

External articles

 * Maeve Reston, "Rep. Murphy hurt in Iraq convoy crash. Upper St. Clair lawmaker airlifted to German hospital for tests, evaluations," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 28, 2005.
 * Gary Rotstein, "Congressman facing ethics flap. Staffers accuse Rep. Tim Murphy of wrongly mixing official duties, campaign work," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2006.
 * Jonathan D. Silver, "Rep. Murphy fires staffer who alleged ethics breach," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 11, 2006.
 * Andy Sheehan, "FBI Probes Claims Against Congressman Murphy," KDKA.com, December 14, 2006.
 * "Murphy investigation started, report says," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 16, 2006.
 * "CREW releases 'Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch)'," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, September 18, 2007.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * The All-Spin Zone