More Money From Gingrey to CryoLife?

I reported earlier this week about the passage of a defense spending bill which included a $2.5 million earmark to CryoLife and sought by Congressman Phil Gingrey. I also talked about donations from CryoLife's CEO and CryoLife's PAC to Gingrey in the past. Some research reveals that this isn't the only instance of Gingrey-supported earmarks going to CryoLife. In 2004, Gingrey (along with Senator Saxby Chambliss) steered another one million toward CryoLife.

Ostensibly, the earmarks seem to serve a noble mean: the development of medical technologies to stop massive bleeding caused by battlefield injuries. But even if the Congressman's intentions are completely noble, he should, at the very least, return the campaign contributions received from CryoLife's PAC and from Mark Anderson, CEO of CryoLife.

Gingrey Secures $2.5 million Earmark for Campaign Contributor

The Rome News-Tribune ran a story today regarding the passage of H.R. 3222, the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Included in the story is a listing of the eight earmarks Congressman Phil Gingrey helped secure. What's interesting, and unmentioned by the RN-T, is that one of the beneficiaries of Congressman Gingrey's efforts is CryoLife Corporation, which received $2.5 million. What makes it interesting is the fact that CryoLife and Phil Gingrey have had political dealings before.

Mark Anderson, CEO of CryoLife, has given a total of $1,500 of Phil Gingrey's re-election campaigns. On top of the that, CryoLife's PAC has given Congressman Gingrey $6,000: $2,000 during the 2006 election cycle and twice that in 2004, Gingrey's last competitive election.

This one sounds a bit fishy.