Diana L. Irey

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." 

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."

Website
The title of Irey's website front page&mdash;"Right for the Job"&mdash;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&mdash;requiring both a User ID and Password&mdash;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, 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. 

The Donatelli Group, using its "primary segment" Campaign Solutions, 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. 

The Donatelli Group, which produced the RNC website, 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. 

Fundraising: GOP Weblinks
The following trackbacks to Irey's website for donations have been posted by Mark Noonan:
 * Blogs for Bush.
 * GOP Bloggers.

Campaign "Dream Team"
Irey announced her campaign "dream team" on April 26, 2006.
 * Jason Davidek, Campaign Manager
 * John Brabender / BrabenderCox, GOP media strategist
 * Gene Ulm, Public Opinion Strategies, Pollster
 * New Media Communications, Inc., Web Designer
 * The Richard Norman Company, Direct Mail Fundraiser

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

 * astroturf blogging
 * Swiftboating John Murtha

Profiles

 * Diana Irey in the Wikipedia.
 * Profile: Diana Irey, Project Vote Smart.

Websites

 * DIANAIREY.com.
 * Vets 4 Irey at VETS4IREY.com (See Oliver P. Ditch.)

Interviews

 * "Live Thread - Interview with Commissioner and GOP Candidate, Diana Irey (Seeking Jack Murtha's seat)," Free Republic, June 14, 2006.

Articles & Commentary

 * Joe Napsha, "Businessman pushed for Mon-Fayette Expressway," Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh, PA), July 2, 2002. Frank L. Irey, Jr. "was a longtime chairman of the Washington County Republican Party. One of the many candidates he supported was his daughter-in-law, Diana L. Irey, who won a seat on the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 1995."
 * Jeff Oliver, "Area resident killed in Iraq," Valley Independent, December 17, 2004.
 * Ken Silverstein, T. Christian Miller and Patrick J. McDonnell, "U.S. Contractor Slain in Iraq Had Alleged Graft. The Weapons Dealer had Accused Officials in the Defense Ministry of a Kickback Scheme," Los Angeles Times (Common Dreams), January 20, 2005.
 * Rodger Morrow, "Who killed Dale Stoffel?" This isn't writing, it's typing Blog, January 22, 2005.
 * Jim O. Madison, "Mesopotamian murder mystery: Who killed Dale Stoffel?" UFPPC.org, March 15, 2005.
 * "The Still Unsolved Stoffel Affair: How Is Known – but Not Who or Why," DEBKAfile, May 10, 2005.
 * Deborah Hastings, "IRAQ: Corruption, Missing Millions and Two Dead Contractors. After securing contracts with the Iraqi government potentially worth hundreds of millions, someone killed Dale Stoffel," Associated Press (CorpWatch.org), January 28, 2006.
 * Deborah Hastings, "To live and work in Iraq. Corruption, missing millions and two dead American contractors," Associated Press (Austin American-Statesman), February 12, 2006.
 * James O'Toole, "Republican Irey might run against Murtha," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 24, 2006.
 * Maeve Reston, "Campaign 2006: Challenger Irey criticizes Murtha on Iraq comments," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 25, 2006.
 * Kimberly Hefling, "Republican opposing Murtha says he should apologize," Associated Press (The News-Sentinel/FortWayne.com), May 25, 2006.
 * Jim Kouri, "Iraq : Republican Challenger Slams Rep. Murtha Comments," CPP (Lincoln Tribune), May 29, 2006.
 * cynic, "Rep Murtha has an opponent," Daily Kos, May 30, 2006: "If Robert Irey, CEO of CLI is the Bob who is Diane’s husband, we now have Diane Irey running against Murtha and berating him for his Haditha comments while her husband planned to make money from Iraq reconstruction in partnership with an arms dealer who was killed under mysterious circumstances in Iraq after being involved with a shadowy lebanese middleman."
 * Joe Conason, "Fleeing the battle. With all the invective it has spewed at the antiwar Jack Murtha, why isn't the GOP helping Diana Irey, his opponent in November?" Salon, June 2, 2006.
 * Bill Pascoe, Press Release: "Irey on Murtha: He Still Doesn't Get It," Diana Irey for Congress (RedState.com; also at Free Republic), June 8, 2006.
 * Bill Pascoe, "Irey Offers Thanks, Prayers for U.S. Troops in Iraq," Diana Irey for Congress (Free Republic), June 8, 2006.
 * "Irey to Murtha: Holster That Itchy Trigger Finger," Diana Irey for Congress; posted by Bill Pascoe on Free Republic June 13, 2006.
 * "Video: Diana Irey slams Murtha on Fox," Hot Air Blog, June 19, 2006.
 * "Diana Irey On Fox News," Iowa Voice, June 19, 2006.
 * John, "Help Send Him Home," Power Line Blog, June 19, 2006.
 * E.L. Core, "Meet Diana Irey," The View from the Core, June 19, 2006.
 * "Quinn & Rose Go National on XM," NewsMax, June 22, 2006.
 * Jack Kelly, "The Murtha 'strategy'," The Toledo Blade (OH), June 24, 2006.
 * "Diana Irey," Santorum Blog, June 25, 2006.
 * Diana L. Irey, "A Note from Diana Irey," posted on PA Pundits. Stormtroopers for the Right Blog by E L Frederick, June 29, 2006, and immediately followed by a single comment posted July 1, 2006, by Larry Bailey, founder of Vets For The Truth's "Boot Murtha" campaign.
 * Michael, "Diana Irey Deputizes Nancy Pelosi!" Curiouser & Curiouser Blog, June 30, 2006.
 * Bob Geiger, "Irey's Hysterical 'Call to Action' Against Murtha," Democrats.com, July 1, 2006.
 * Bob Geiger, "Murtha Opponent Irey Continues Lying to Voters," Democrats.com, July 2, 2006; AlterNet, July 3, 2006.
 * "PA GOP Chair Betrays Irey! Should He Step Down?" (Poll), RedState.org, July 12, 2006.
 * "News in brief from the campaign trail in Pennsylvania," Associated Press, July 13, 2006: "Murtha has $1.6 million in cash, while Irey has $159,138 in cash. ... Irey, who has criticized Murtha's stance on the Iraq war, raised more than $117,000 in cash online in June, said Bill Pascoe, a campaign spokesman."
 * Bob Geiger, "Laughable GOP hypocrisy on Democratic video. Republicans aghast at mere illusion of their own tactics," AlterNet, July 13, 2006: "And speaking of that, the Wicked Witch of Monongahela, PA, Murtha opponent Diana Irey is also faking outrage and demanded in a press release yesterday that Murtha join the faux patriots in the GOP by 'demanding that Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel apologize, and then insist that the DCCC forward any funds raised off this disgusting solicitation to appropriate charities.' ... I truly hope Irey holds her breath waiting for that to happen. ... My prediction: By the end of the summer, a desperate Irey will post a photo-shopped picture of John Murtha burning a flag with Osama bin Laden and demand that he apologize. Just a hunch."
 * James O'Toole, "Challengers trail U.S. House incumbents in funding," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 19, 2006.
 * Partial Transcript: "Diana Irey Explains Why She Is Running Against Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha," Hannity & Colmes/Fox News, August 5, 2006.
 * John Gizzi, "PA-12: Irey vs. Murtha," Human Events Online, August 14, 2006.
 * Mike Faher, "Irey in town: Murtha rival sets up shop," The Tribune-Democrat, August 15, 2006.
 * Federal News Service Transcript: "MSNBC 'Hardball' Interview with Diana Irey, Republican Candidate for Congress, 12th Congressional District, Pennsylvania. Interviewer: Chris Matthews," 5:14 P.M. EDT, Thursday, August 17, 2006. Subscription/registration required.
 * Mark Finkelstein, "Matthews Irate at Irey: 'I Don't Need to Be Reminded' My Brother GOP Candidate," NewsBusters, August 17, 2006.
 * Matthew Rule, "Chris Matthews: No Complaints About Murtha, Media Can't Be Wrong," NewsBusters, August 18, 2006.
 * "12th District Race Draws National Attention on 'Hardball'," WJACTV.com NBC6, August 18, 2006.