WASHINGTON -- The Office of Congressional Ethics has closed its corruption inquiry into Pennsylvania's Rep. John Murtha and recommended that there be no sanctions against the Johnstown Democrat.

Mr. Murtha received a letter this month saying that the Ethics Office would not recommend further investigation by the House Ethics Committee, according to a congressional source with knowledge of the inquiry. It had focused on the relationship between Mr. Murtha and the PMA Group lobbying firm.

PMA was founded by Pittsburgh native Paul Magliocchetti, a former Appropriations Committee staffer and friend of Mr. Murtha. The firm closed this spring after federal agents searched its offices and Mr. Magliocchetti's home, seeking evidence that he used friends and family to steer donations to members of Congress in violation of campaign finance laws.

Sources have told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that federal investigators have asked Mr. Magliocchetti about Mr. Murtha.

Congressional probes have focused on potential ties between congressional earmarks and campaign donations to members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which Mr. Murtha chairs.

The Office of Congressional Ethics, created by Congress in 2008, comprises private citizens who look into alleged wrongdoing by House members and make recommendations to the chamber's ethics committee. In this case, it recommended no further investigation, but that may not be the final word.

The House Ethics Committee confirmed in June that it was looking into Mr. Murtha and others with ties to PMA. The ethics office cannot investigate any activities that occurred before the body was formed, while the ethics committee has a wider scope.

Several lawmakers have been targeted, but the office cleared Mr. Murtha, Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., and Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported yesterday.

Spokesmen for Mr. Murtha and Mr. Dicks did not return requests for comment, but a Moran spokeswoman confirmed that he had been cleared by the office.

"I appreciate the panel's thorough investigation and carefully considered and unanimous decision to dismiss what were, from the outset, baseless charges," Mr. Moran said in a statement. "If the vindication and dismissal of the matter gets one-tenth of the visibility that the allegation assumed, I'll be pleased."

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said she still believes that Mr. Murtha was trading earmarks for campaign donations because most of his major donors are defense contractors who want something from his subcommittee.

She also said Office of Congressional Ethics, which did not publicly discipline a House member all year, has been far from the watchdog promised by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when the House created it. "Nobody ever finds a [lawmaker] did anything wrong," Ms. Sloan said. "All they've done is clear people."

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.