Diana L. Irey

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Diana L. Irey, a Republican, ran against Democrat incumbent Representative John P. Murtha for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District in the 2006 midtern election. Irey is currently a Washington County, Pennsylvania, Commissioner. Elected in 1996, Irey is "the only woman ever to be elected as a Washington County commissioner. She is now in her tenth year of public service." [1]

Profiles

According to her campaign website, Irey "served on the board of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission; co-chaired its Committee to Develop the Former Alcoa building into a regional renaissance tower, served on the boards of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Alliance and Pittsburgh Regional Alliance executive board and co-chaired their business attraction committee.

"Appointed by Governor Tom Ridge, Diana served on the Port of Pittsburgh Commission. And she is past president of the Mon Valley United Way."

Controversy

In January 2006, "the Associated Press published a fascinating and thorough feature story about a $300 million deal awarded by the Iraqi Defense Ministry to a consortium that included Robert Irey and his brother William Irey," Joe Conason wrote June 2, 2006, in Salon. "The Irey brothers had joined up with a shadowy arms dealer named Dale Stoffel, whose Iraqi patron was none other than Ahmed Chalabi -- the former exile leader and alleged conman who provided deceptive intelligence about Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' and who has remained a favorite of Pentagon neoconservatives despite his checkered history. With Chalabi's support, Stoffel and the Ireys won a bid to rebuild military equipment for the Iraqi armed forces and market military scrap metal from all over the war-ravaged country.

"Clever as Stoffel's scheme may have been, it ended very badly. He soon became embroiled in bitter financial disputes with the Iraqi Defense Ministry, which he accused of corruption. In December 2004, not long after Stoffel started making official complaints to Washington, unknown assailants murdered him and an American associate in a mysterious drive-by shooting near Baghdad," Conason wrote.

"Explaining her husband's involvement in this bloody mess could prove difficult for Irey. According to the AP, the huge deal won by her husband's consortium was obtained by hiring the same 'powerful Washington lobbyists' who had represented Chalabi in his quest for American money and support."

Campaign Info

Website

The title of Irey's website front page—"Right for the Job"—focuses immediately on her campaign against Murtha:

"Thirty two years is a long time to spend in Washington. For decades, western Pennsylvania looked to John Murtha to stand up for our values. But as the years have drifted by, John Murtha has drifted further and further from the ideals that made this country great. He has become part of the problem in Washington.
"While John Murtha is calling for an immediate withdrawal from the war against terror, Diana Irey has been standing steadfastly by our fighting men and women and is committed to finishing the job. And while John Murtha is voting to tax our social security benefits, Diana Irey has been holding the line on taxes and government spending."

The website includes a second page devoted to Murtha, arrived at by clicking on a link to a page entitled "Out of Touch". Here, Irey itemizes four areas upon which she claims John Murtha is "Wrong": Congressional pay raises, spending, health care, and national defense, namely that "John Murtha actually voted to cut spending on our national security by $76 billion. Then, he voted in favor of instituting the draft! And, perhaps most stunning of all, John Murtha spoke out against the brave men and women who are defending our freedom by calling for an immediate withdrawl of our troops from Iraq."

Fundraising: Swift Boat Connection

The web address for donations to Irey's campaign is that for DonationReport.com (plus an extension code for Irey).

The connection for DonationReport.com website arrives at a Login page—requiring both a User ID and Password—which belongs to eDonation.com, a member of The Donatelli Group, a fundraising company that has raised campaign funds for the Republican National Committee, Republican National Convention, Bush-Cheney '04 Inc., John McCain, the NRA [2], and an exhaustive list of Republican members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as other political organizations. [3]

The Donatelli Group, using its "primary segment" Campaign Solutions [4], is associated with Creative Response Concepts, the public relations firm that advised Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the "organization that accused Kerry of inflating his Vietnam War record" during the 2004 presidential campaign. [5]

The Donatelli Group, which produced the RNC website [6], also created the SWIFTBOATVETSFORTRUTH.ORG website July 30, 2004, with Connell Donatelli Inc. (a.k.a. The Donatelli Group) as Registrant. Connell Donatelli Inc. was also listed as both Administrator and the Tech Organization for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website. [7]

Fundraising: GOP Weblinks

The following trackbacks to Irey's website for donations have been posted by Mark Noonan:

Campaign "Dream Team"

Irey announced her campaign "dream team" on April 26, 2006.

Political Identity

Irey's political campaign is Diana Irey for Congress.

Contact Information

600 Park Avenue
Monongahela, PA 15063
Phone: 724 258-2300
FAX: 724 258-8600
Email: Diana AT Irey.com
Website: http://www.irey.com/

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Profiles

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Articles & Commentary

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