A Political Action Committee tied to Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., has been suffering ever since the Department of Justice began an investigation into the Congressman’s activities in 2006.

According to the July 2009 quarterly report, Mollohan’s Summit PAC had only $234 in cash on hand and listed a $1,255 debt. Only the July quarterly report was available with no reports filed for April or October on the Federal Elections Commission website. That’s an 88 percent decrease from the July 2008 quarterly report, which showed $1,958.47 in cash on hand and no debts.

Summit PAC is one of several Leadership PACs, which Senators and Representatives use to raise money for other elected officials. Donations from Leadership PACs are often used to support like-minded candidates, or gain influence with party leadership to gain committee assignments. In 2006 Summit PAC had as much as $73,243.64.

Mollohan has used Summit PAC to benefit some of the following campaigns:

• $2,000 in 2004 to current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• $2,000 in 2004 to former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. Emanuel is now the Chief of Staff to Pres. Barack Obama.
• $5,000 in 2006 to Mike Callaghan, a Democratic challenger to 2nd District Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
• $1,000 in 2006 to Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
• $5,000 in 2006 to his own campaign.
• Lastly, $7,000 between 2004 and 2008 to Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa. Incidentally, both Murtha and Mollohan are on the Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s 2009 CREW’s Most Corrupt, a list of 15 Representatives and Senators either under investigation or being looked at House/Senate probes.

Summit PAC has been funded, in part, by donations from employees of Mollohan-funded non-profits, companies with offices at the Alan B. Mollohan Innovation Center in Fairmont, W.Va., or companies that do business with these groups – a tangled web of connections. Between 2002 and 2008 these groups donated approximately $215,113 to Summit PAC.

The following companies and groups have donated to Summit PAC between 2002 and 2008:

• Mollohan Innovation Center Tenants: ManTech International, $5,800; Northrop Grumman, $7,000; Electronic Warfare Associates, $57,500; Information Manufacturing Corp., $62,500; DN American, $24,000; ProLogic, $17,000; Azimuth, $15,000; Information Research Corp, $1,000.
• Mollohan-Created Non-Profits: Vandalia Heritage Foundation, $4,000; West Virginia High Technology Consortium, $4,000; Institute for Scientific Research, $500.
• Companies that do work or have connections with the above groups: Toothman Rice, $2,000; McCabe Land Co/McCabe-Henley, $4,813.

These companies and organizations have donated to Mollohan’s campaign over the years, and many have received earmarks from Mollohan. To learn more about some of these groups, check out our past Mollohan investigations:

• Mollohan and Vandalia Team Up Again for Armory
• Vandalia Gives Thousands to Mollohan
• Mollohan Earmarks Money for New Vandalia Project
• W.Va. Earmark Report: U.S. House of Representatives
• BREAKING: Justice Dept. still Investigating Mollohan
• Controversial Earmarks Plague Mollohan
• Earmarks Come In, Donatons Pour Out of Mollohan Innovation Center

Many politicians start their own Political Action Committees, called Leadership PACs, to benefit fellow elected officials