Jim Moran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of theNew Democrat Coalition | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 Serving with Cal Dooley,Tim Roemer | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Jim Davis Ron Kind Adam Smith |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Stanford Parris |
| Succeeded by | Don Beyer |
| Mayor ofAlexandria | |
| In office July 1, 1985 – January 2, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Chuck Beatley |
| Succeeded by | Patsy Ticer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Patrick Moran Jr. (1945-05-16)May 16, 1945 (age 80) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | James Moran Sr. (father) Brian Moran (brother) |
| Education | College of the Holy Cross (BA) University of Pittsburgh (MPA) |
| Signature |  |
James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor ofAlexandria, Virginia, from 1985 until 1990, and as theU.S. representative forVirginia's 8th congressional district, including the cities ofFalls Church andAlexandria, all ofArlington County, and a portion ofFairfax County) from 1991 until 2015.
A member of theDemocratic Party, Moran chaired theNew Democrat Coalition from 1997 until 2001. He is ofIrish descent and is the son ofJames Moran Sr., a former professional football player, and the brother ofBrian Moran, former chairman of theDemocratic Party of Virginia.
Moran was born inBuffalo, New York, the eldest of seven siblings in aRoman Catholic family of Irish descent. He grew up inNatick, Massachusetts, a suburb ofBoston. His parents were Dorothy (née Dwyer) andJames Moran Sr., a professionalfootball player for theBoston Redskins in 1935 and 1936; outside of football he worked as a probation officer.[1] Both his father and mother were Roosevelt Democrats and supporters of theNew Deal. Moran attendedMarian High School inFramingham, Massachusetts.[2][3]
Moran playedcollege football on an athletic scholarship at theCollege of the Holy Cross,[4] where his father had been a football star in the early 1930s. Moran received hisB.A. in economics in 1967. After attendingBaruch College of theCity University of New York from 1967 to 1968, he received aMaster of Public Administration from theUniversity of Pittsburgh in 1970.
After college, Moran followed his father's footstep to become an amateurboxer. During a campaign in 1992, he admitted that he had usedmarijuana during his early 20s.[5] Following a brief career as a stockbroker, Moran moved to Washington, D.C.[4]
Moran worked for five years at theDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare as a budget officer before serving as a senior specialist for budgetary and fiscal policy at theLibrary of Congress. From 1976 to 1979, he was on the staff ofU.S. Senate Committee on Approrpriations.[6]
In 1979, Moran was elected to the City Council ofAlexandria, Virginia. From 1982 to 1984, he wasdeputy mayor. In 1984, he resigned as part of anolo contendere plea bargain to a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge, which courts later erased. The incident stemmed from charges that Moran had used money from apolitical action committee to rent a tuxedo and buy Christmas cards; both of which were later judged by theCommonwealth Attorney to "fit the definition of constituent services", and were dismissed.[7]
In 1985, Moran was elected mayor of Alexandria, Virginia. He was reelected in 1988,[8] and resigned after he was elected toCongress in November 1990.
In 1990, Moran first won election to theUnited States House of Representatives, defeating five-term Republican incumbentStan Parris. During the campaign, Parris, referring to the issue of theGulf War, said, "The only three people I know who supportSaddam Hussein's position areMoammar Gadhafi,Yasser Arafat, and Jim Moran." Moran angrily responded by saying that Parris was "a deceitful, fatuous jerk", and that he wanted "to break his nose".[9][10] Moran's well-financed campaign also focused on Parris' opposition to abortion. Moran upset Parris, winning by 7.1 percent.[11] He was sworn into office in January 1991.[12]
In the next two elections, Moran faced Republican lawyerKyle McSlarrow. During the 1992 campaign, McSlarrow accused Moran of "lying to the public". Moran responded by portraying McSlarrow as a drug abuser, referring to the candidate's admitted use ofcocaine andmarijuana while at theUniversity of Virginia.[13] Moran compared McSlarrow to Parris, saying that Parris had "[t]en times more integrity than McSlarrow. He didn't create lies."[14] Moran defeated McSlarrow with 56 percent of the vote. He was helped by the 1990s redistricting, which cut out some of the more Republican-leaning areas of his district.
In 1994, Moran's daughter Dorothy was suffering from an inoperable brain tumor. During the campaign, neither Moran nor McSlarrow used the negative tactics of two years earlier. On his campaign strategy that election, McSlarrow said "It would not be a community service to shut down this campaign, but I probably will not talk much about Moran."[15] Moran was reelected with 59 percent of the vote.
In 1998 and 2000, Moran faced Republican andflat tax advocate Demaris H. Miller. In the 1998 campaign Miller accused Moran of flip-flopping in his support of PresidentBill Clinton, after Moran, who had been a vocal supporter of the Clinton White House, voted in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry following theMonica Lewinsky scandal.[16]
In 2002, Moran defeated Republican S. C. Tate and Independent R. V. Crickenberger.
In June 2004, Moran, for the first time since his election in 1990, had a Democratic opponent in a primary. Moran defeated Alexandria attorney Andrew M. Rosenberg, 59% to 41%.[17] In November, he defeated Republican Lisa Marie Cheney.
In 2006, Moran defeated Republican challenger T. M. Odonoghue and Independent J. T. Hurysz.
In 2008, Moran again had a primary challenger; he won with 86% of the vote. In thegeneral election, Moran faced Republican Mark Ellmore andIndependent Green Ron Fisher. He won with 68 percent of the vote to Elmore's 30 percent.[18] In November 2009, Ellmore announced he would again challenge Moran, but dropped out of the race four months later.[19] In the June 2010 Republican primary, attorneyMatthew Berry narrowly lost to retiredU.S. Army ColonelJay Patrick Murray, after a last-minute mailing attacking Berry's homosexuality.[20][21] Fisher again was on the ballot.[22] During the campaign, Moran was criticized by military advocacy groups and conservatives for saying, at a local Democratic committee meeting, that Murray had not "served or performed any kind of public service".[23][24][25] Moran responded by commending Murray's military service, while saying that he used the phrase in relation to Murray not having engaged in "local civic engagement" and not having served in local office.[26] In November 2010, Moran was re-elected to an eleventh term with 61% of the vote.[27]
In 2012, Moran faced another primary challenge, from Navy veteran Bruce Shuttleworth. A controversy erupted when the Democratic Party of Virginia disqualified Shuttleworth, saying he had fallen 17 signatures short of the 1,000 threshold required. Shuttleworth cried foul and filed a federal lawsuit; the party then allowed Shuttleworth on the ballot.[28] Moran went on to win by a sizable margin. In November, Moran defeated Republican J. Patrick Murray, Independent Jason J. Howell, and Independent Green Janet Murphy, winning 64% of the vote.
Moran representedVirginia's 8th congressional district, an area inNorthern Virginia that is just across thePotomac River from Washington, D.C.; the district includesArlington county, and the cities ofAlexandria,Falls Church and parts ofFairfax County. The redistricting that followed the2000 census also gave Moran a portion ofReston, Virginia. His district is located in theDulles Technology Corridor and is the home of many federal defense contractors as well as a significant number of those who work in the information technology industry. Many federal employees also reside within the district, mostly due to its proximity toWashington and because theUnited States Department of Defense and various other agencies are headquartered there.[29]
During the mid-1990s, Moran co-founded and later co-chaired theNew Democrat Coalition, a coalition ofDemocratic lawmakers who consider themselves to bemoderates with regard to commerce, budgeting, and economic legislation, but vote as liberals on social issues.[30] Moran was also a member of theCongressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the largest caucus operating within the Democratic caucus, which works to advanceprogressive issues and opinions. He joined the caucus prior to the111th Congress.[31][32]
In 1995, Moran and California RepublicanDuke Cunningham had to be restrained by theCapitol Police after a shoving match on the house floor over President Bill Clinton's decision to send U.S. troops toBosnia. "I thought he had been bullying too many people for too long, and I told him so ... He said he didn't mean to be so accusatory ... After that, he would bring me candy from California", Moran claimed.[33]
During the final years of theClinton administration, Moran was critical of the President. In 1998, during theMonica Lewinskyscandal, Moran was one of only 31 House Democrats to support launching a formal impeachment inquiry intoBill Clinton. In August 1998, he toldTime magazine that, "This whole sordid mess is just too tawdry and tedious and embarrassing ... It's like a novel that just became too full of juicy parts and bizarre, sleazy characters."[34] Moran is also reported to have told First LadyHillary Clinton that if she had been his sister, he would have punched her husband in the nose. Moran eventually decided not to vote forimpeachment, explaining that Clinton had not compromised the country's security, and that he still respected him for what he had accomplished as president. Moran proposed a resolution demanding that Clinton confess to a pattern of "dishonest and illegal conduct" surrounding his sexual involvement withMonica Lewinsky.[35][36]
Moran was voted High Technology Legislator of the Year by the Information Technology Industry Council and was voted into theAmerican Electronics Association Hall of Fame for his work on avoiding the Year 2000 crisis and his support of theIT Industry and defense contractors inNorthern Virginia. He cosponsored failed bills in 2005 to provide theDistrict of Columbia witha House seat and to prohibitslaughter of horses.[37][38]
On April 28, 2006, Moran, along with four other members of Congress (the now-deceased Rep.Tom Lantos of California,Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, andJames McGovern andJohn Olver ofMassachusetts), and six other activists, were arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., and spent 45 minutes in a jail cell before being released. They were protesting the alleged role ofSudan's government in ethnic cleansing inDarfur. According to theSan Francisco Chronicle, "Their protest and civil disobedience was designed to embarrass themilitary dictatorship's ongoing genocide of its non-Arab citizens."[39]
The day after theVirginia Tech massacre in 2007, Moran told a local radio station[which?] that theFederal Assault Weapons Ban should be reinstated, blaming theNational Rifle Association of America and PresidentGeorge W. Bush for blockinggun control legislation.[40] He further warned that if gun control legislation was not passed, then shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech will happen "time and time again." He later dismissed charges that he was politicizing the shooting, tellingPolitico that "as a legislator, your immediate reaction is to think something could be done to avoid this. I don't know why the idea of figuring out how to avoid it is a political partisan issue."[40]
Shortly before theJune 2008Virginia Democratic primary, Moran endorsed SenatorBarack Obama ofIllinois for the presidency over New York Senator and former First LadyHillary Clinton. Explaining his endorsement, he told a local newspaper that the long-term goal of closing Alexandria's coal-fired power plant would be more attainable under Obama than under Clinton. Obama won the Virginia primary, and carried the state when he won thegeneral election in November.[41]
In May 2009, Moran introduced a bill that would restrictbroadcast advertisements forerectile dysfunction ormale enhancement medication. He said that such ads wereindecent and should be prohibited on radio and television between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm, in accordance withFederal Communications Commission policy. Later that year, Moran and former presidential candidate and formerGovernor of VermontHoward Dean held a town hall meeting on the issue of health care atSouth Lakes High School inReston, Virginia. The meeting was interrupted several times by protesters, most notablyanti-abortion activistRandall Terry, who, along with about half a dozen supporters, caused such a commotion that he had to be escorted out by police. The incident was replayed several times over the next few weeks on television as an example of the tension at town halls that fall.[42][43]
In February 2010, on the House floor, Moran called for the repeal ofDon't ask, don't tell, the military policy of discharging soldiers on active duty who are openly homosexual. He spoke about a letter penned by a gay soldier who was then serving in theAfghanistan War, who had "learned that a fellow soldier was also gay, only after he was killed by anIED in Iraq. The partner of the deceased soldier wrote the unit to say how much the victim had loved the military; how they were the only family he had ever known ... This immutable human trait, sexual orientation, like the color of one's skin, does not affect one's integrity, their honor, our commitment to their country. Soldiers serving their country in combat should not have their sacrifices compounded by having to struggle with an antiquated "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Let's do the right and honorable thing and repeal this policy."[44][45]
As a member of theHouse Appropriations Committee, Moran worked to allocate federal funding to projects inNorthern Virginia, usually in the technology and defense industries. He also assisted in authorizing the replacement of theWoodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, a bridge betweenAlexandria, Virginia, andPrince George's County, Maryland, which had gained a reputation over the years amongNorthern Virginia residents as the site of numerous rush-hour traffic jams.[6][46]
On March 9, 2010, Moran was named to succeedNorm Dicks ofWashington as the chairman of theHouse Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. The chairmanship gave Moran authority over appropriations to theDepartment of the Interior, theBureau of Indian Affairs, and theNational Endowment for the Arts; among other things. Moran said he was excited to be able to play a role in protecting the environment and conserving natural resources.[47][48]
Moran became theranking member of the subcommittee after the Democratic Party lost control of the House of Representatives following theNovember 2010 elections.
After President Obama's2011 State of the Union Address, Moran was interviewed byAlhurra, an Arab television network. During the interview, he said, "a lot of people in [the United States of America] ... don't want to be governed by an African-American" and that the Democrats lost seats in the 2010 election for "the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States ... the Southern states, particularly the slaveholding states, didn't want to see a president who was opposed to slavery."[49] The remarks received national media attention.[50][51]The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin said the remarks were "beyond uncivil" and "obnoxious".[52]
On March 16, 2012, Moran was arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC, at a protest against human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sudanese government, specifically bombings in theNuba Mountains and refusal to allow humanitarian aid organizations access to refugees. He was charged with disorderly conduct and released, along withGeorge Clooney and several others.[53][54]
On March 27, 2012, Moran introduced the AUTISM Educators Act that would implement a five-year pilot program allowing public schools to partner with colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations to promote teaching skills for educators working with high functioning students withautism. "This legislation is the product of a grassroots effort by parents, instructors, school officials and caring communities," he said. "Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at an exploding rate. We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to provide the best education for our children."[55][56]
In 2012, the bipartisan grassroots organization No Labels recognized Moran as a "Problem Solver" for "continued willingness to work across the aisle and find common ground with members of the opposite party on important issues. His attitude is what Congress needs more of."[57]
Moran joined Virginia Reps.Gerry Connolly andBobby Scott in asking Attorney General Eric Holder for a Department of Justice investigation into allegations of voter fraud in Virginia following charges that a contractor to the Republican Party of Virginia was caught discarding completed voter registration forms in aHarrisonburg, Virginia dumpster. Shortly thereafter, conservative activistJames O'Keefe released a video alleging involvement by Moran's son in a voting fraud discussion; see#Voter fraud allegations below.
Moran occasionally appeared onMSNBC, usually onHardball with Chris Matthews andThe Ed Show.[58][59]
He did not seek re-nomination to Congress in 2014, retiring after 24 years.[60] Virginia's former lieutenant governor,Don Beyer, a fellow Democrat, was elected to succeed Moran.[61][circular reference]
Moran voted against theDefense of Marriage Act, theFederal Marriage Amendment, and was in favor of repealing the military'sDon't Ask, Don't Tell policy.[44] He also supportedgun control, voting for theBrady Bill and supporting a reinstatement of theFederal Assault Weapons Ban.[40][62] At different times he voted to banflag-burning andpartial-birth abortions, though he reversed his positions on both issues. On education, he expressed support for thepublic education system,universal pre-kindergarten, and full funding for theNo Child Left Behind program.[63] Moran was given a 100% rating by theNARAL and 0% by theNational Right to Life Committee, indicating apro-abortion rights voting record. He also voted to expand research ofembryonic stem cells and to allow minors to go across state lines to receive abortions.[62]
On immigration, Moran supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and did not support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country or the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police.[64] He was a cosponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP Act of 2009 (H.R.4321), which the House did not pass.[65] He was given an overall immigration reduction grade of D byNumbersUSA.[66] TheAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association scored him as having voted 31 times for the organization's position and 7 times against the organization's position.[67]
In September 2009, Moran was one of 75 members of theHouse of Representatives to vote no on a bill to eliminate any federal funds going to community organizerACORN.[68]
Moran introduced and supported legislation to increase benefits and pay for federal workers, in part due to the Federal Government's large presence within the 8th District – 114,000 federal employees work within its bounds. He introduced a bill signed into law that allows FERS employees to buy back credit from a lapse in federal service toward annuity payments, with the goal of attracting individuals from the private sector back to public service. Moran also authored a law that allows a federal worker's unused sick leave to count toward their annuity.[69] In the 112th Congress, he also spoke against attempts by Republicans to cut back the size of the federal workforce.[70]
Moran listed the environment as one of his top issues, citing his high marks from theLeague of Conservation Voters and theSierra Club. He used his positions as a member of theAppropriations Committee and as chairman of theInterior Appropriations Subcommittee to allocate federal funding for hiking trails[71] and wildlife reserves in his district.[72]
He also voted to ban logging onfederal lands. He criticized theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for inaction onclimate change, saying that "EPA had a historic opportunity to tackle head-on one of the greatest threats to our existence—global warming. Instead they balked under pressure from the administration, concluding the problem is so complex and controversial that it cannot be resolved." He also endorsed and voted for theClean Air Act and said thatglobal warming is an important issue to him.[62] In 2010, Moran also expressed discontent with PresidentBarack Obama's decision to allowoil drilling off the coast of the United States.[73][74]
Moran often broke with his party on economic issues. For example, he supportedDominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and otherfree trade agreements,[62] harsher bankruptcy laws, and increased restrictions on the right to bringclass action suits.[62]
He voted for theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and theTroubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Reform and Accountability Act. He supported pay-as-you-go budgeting and believed "that the American government needs to strive to build up a surplus when possible, so that there are funds to support and sustain our country during tough financial times." Moran called former PresidentGeorge W. Bush "Fiscally irresponsible."[62][75]
Moran said he supported theredistribution of wealth, saying in November 2008 that "We have been guided by a Republican administration who believes in this simplistic notion that people who have wealth are entitled to keep it and they have an antipathy towards the means of redistributing wealth."[76] He also said on his website that therecession was largely "a result of the imbalance in the distribution of wealth over the last eight years and an absence ofoversight and accountability."[62]
Moran calledSocial Security "a safe, stable, and dependable source of financial assistance forretirees and their families," and strongly opposes privatizing Social Security, saying that it would "cripple the system". It was his position that any changes to the current system must "promote its long-term solvency without disrupting the core principles on which the program was founded."[77]
Moran expressed support forUniversal Healthcare and more specifically thepublic health insurance option, saying at atown hall meeting inReston, Virginia, in August 2009 that "It could do the most to bring down long-term medical costs and to adequatelyinsure every American."[78][79] Moran ultimately voted for thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed and was signed into law in March 2010.[80]
Moran voted against authorizing theIraq War in 2002 and did not support the troop increase for theAfghanistan War proposed by PresidentBarack Obama in 2009, saying first that he appreciated Obama's "careful consideration regarding the U.S.'s engagement in Afghanistan", but later defining the issues on which he and the President disagreed:
Our security concern is Al-Qaeda, not the Taliban. Eight years ago we went into Afghanistan to eliminate al-Qaeda and the "safe haven" that Afghanistan's Taliban were providing the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda has no significant presence today in all of Afghanistan. ... Instead of increasing our troop presence, the U.S. should limit its mission in Afghanistan to securing strategic Afghan population centers with the troops currently on the ground.[81]
Prior to the2003 invasion of Iraq, Moran told an anti-war audience inReston, Virginia, that if
If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should.
This brought criticism from many of his own party, including, among others, Senate Democratic LeaderTom Daschle and SenatorJoe Lieberman.Nancy Pelosi, who wasHouse Minority Leader at the time, remarked that "Moran's comments have no place in the Democratic Party."[82]
Moran apologized for the remarks, saying that
I should not have singled out the Jewish community and regret giving any impression that its members are somehow responsible for the course of action being pursued by the administration, or are somehow behind an impending war ... What I was trying to say is that if more organizations in this country, including religious groups, were more outspoken against war, then I do not think we would be pursuing war as an option.[83][84]
Moran voted against BRAC 2005 which would move over 20,000 workers to Ft. Belvoir.[85] The Army later decided to relocate approximately 6,400 Department of Defense workers to the Mark Center building in Alexandria. Moran opposed the selection of the Mark Center saying "I'm very disappointed ... It belonged at the Springfield site."[86] Moran blocked federal funding for an HOV ramp directly to the Mark Center citing the impact upon Winkler Preserve.[87]
At Moran's request, DoD ultimately delayed moving all workers to the Mark Center by one year.[88] To help prevent gridlock, Moran got $20 million in short- and mid-term road improvements[89] and a parking limit at the Mark Center of approximately 2,000 cars[90] Moran also got $180 million to widen route 1 for the new Ft. Belvoir Hospital, an effort Sen. Webb called "a tribute to Congressman Moran's persistence."[91]
Moran was in favor of stronger prohibitions againstanimal fighting. He sponsored legislation to penalize those who "knowingly attend animal fights and allow minors to attend."[92] He sponsored legislation limiting federal funding for horse slaughter inspection plants, effectively preventing the practice. In the past he promoted reinstating a five-year ban on slaughtering horses for food, noting that "horses hold an important place in our nation's history and culture ... they deserve to be cared for, not killed for foreign consumption."[93] Moran in the past promoted safer keeping and treatment of exotic animals used in circus performances.[94] In October 2014, Moran received the Lord Houghton Award from Cruelty Free International for his service and contribution to animal welfare.[95]
Moran does not supportgranting statehood to theDistrict of Columbia.[96] However, he voted to allow Washington, D.C., to send a voting representative to theUnited States Congress.[97]
Moran's support for harsher bankruptcy law provisions and sponsorship of stricter bankruptcy legislation brought allegations in 2002 that his support came in return for financial favors by financial institutions which could benefit from such laws. In January 1998, one month before he introduced the legislation, credit card bankMBNA advocated that it would restrict the ability of consumer debtors to declare bankruptcy. Moran received a $447,000 debt consolidation loan at over 10% interest rate.
TheLieutenant Governor of Virginia at the time,Tim Kaine, joinedRepublican lawmakers in calling for aHouse Ethics Committee investigation into the loan, saying that Moran had made "an error in judgment" by accepting it. In his own defense, Moran said that the timing of the legislation's introduction was coincidental and had nothing to do with the loan. MBNA spokesman Brian Dalphon said that the bank had offered the mortgage package not knowing that Moran was a member of Congress, and that the loan "made good business sense" because with the mortgage loan, "we improved our position by getting security for an unsecured loan. ... He had credit cards with us, he was having financial difficulties; this put him in a better position to be able to pay us back from a cash-flow standpoint."[98][99]
TheHouse Ethics Committee investigated several members of theHouse Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, including Moran,Peter J. Visclosky,Norm Dicks,Marcy Kaptur and the lateJohn Murtha, who was the chairman at the time, for a conflict of interest in the allocation of the government contracts to clients of thePMA Group, which donated nearly a million dollars to Moran'spolitical action committee, as well as a significant amount of money to the gubernatorial campaign of Moran's younger brother,Brian.[100] Moran[which?] said that he was unaware of "who made donations", and "how much they gave", and therefore was not affected by the donations when allocating the funding.[101]
In February 2010, the panel cleared Moran and the others, saying that they violated no laws. The panel concluded, as part of its 305-page report, that"simply because a member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor ... does not support a claim that a member's actions are being influenced by campaign contributions".[102] After PMA's founder, Paul Magliocchetti, pleaded guilty in September 2010 to six years of campaign finance fraud,[103] Moran said that he would not return the $177,700 in PMA Group-related donations that he received from 1990 to 2010.[citation needed]
In November 2011, authorPeter Schweizer published a book,Throw Them All Out, which included an allegation that Moran used information he got from a September 16, 2008, briefing, in which Treasury SecretaryHenry Paulson andFederal Reserve ChairmanBen Bernanke warned of what became the2008 financial crisis, for his stock market activity:
September 17, 2008, was by far Moran's most active trading day of the year. He dumped shares in Goldman Sachs, General Dynamics, Franklin Resources, Flowserve Corporation, Ecolabs, Edison International, Electronic Arts, DirecTV, Conoco, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Apple, CVS, Cisco, Chubb, and a dozen more companies.
Schweizer alleged that Moran made more than 90 trades that day.[104] Moran defended himself by citing that the trades were made in the midst of the Great Recession and that all one had to do was turn on the television to see that stock prices were dropping fast.
On October 24, 2012, a video was released showing Patrick B. Moran, the Congressman's son and a field director with his father's campaign, discussing a plan to cast fraudulent ballots. It was proposed to him by someone who posed as a fervent supporter of the campaign.[105] In response to the person's suggestion about trying to cast votes using the names of 100 inactive voters, Patrick Moran attempted to discourage the scheme, but also discussed the practical difficulties of forging documentation such as utility bills.[106] The person he was speaking with was actually a conservative activist withJames O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and was secretly recording the conversation.[106] Patrick Moran resigned from the campaign, saying he didn't want to be a distraction during the election, and stating, "at no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not."[106]
The following day, theArlington County Police Department opened a criminal probe into the matter.[107] Two days after the video was released, the Virginia State Board of Elections askedAttorney General of VirginiaKen Cuccinelli to investigate Moran's campaign for voter fraud.[108] On January 31, 2013, Arlington County announced that the investigation, by its police department in collaboration with the Offices of the Virginia Attorney General and the Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney, had concluded and that no charges would be brought. The County stated: "Patrick Moran and the Jim Moran for Congress campaign provided full cooperation throughout the investigation. Despite repeated attempts to involve the party responsible for producing the video, they failed to provide any assistance."[109]
In 2003, Moran drew criticism for telling an audience inReston, Virginia that "if it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this."[110] The comment was condemned by then House Democratic leaderNancy Pelosi and then Democratic Senate Minority LeaderTom Daschle.[111] In 2007, Moran again generated controversy for linking the Jewish community with the war, this time by blamingAIPAC for American involvement in Iraq, telling the progressive Jewish magazineTikkun that "… AIPAC is the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning … because they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful – most of them are quite wealthy – they have been able to exert power."[111] The comments were again condemned by Democratic leadership as anti-semitic.[112]
In February 2015, Moran joinedMcDermott Will & Emery as a senior legislative advisor.[113] He later left the firm and became a senior policy advisor in the Washington, D.C. office ofNelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.[114] In April 2023, he started his own lobbying firm, Moran Global Strategies, representing clients such asQatar, Biafran separatistSimon Ekpa and various defense contractors.[115][116]
Virginia Tech announced in April 2016 that Moran had joined the School of Public and International Affairs as professor of practice.[117]
| Year | Subject | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | James Moran | Democratic | 88,745 | 51.7 | Stanford Parris | Republican | 76,367 | 44.6 | Robert T. Murphy | Independent | 5,958 | 3.5 | |||
| 1992 | James Moran | Democratic | 138,542 | 56.1 | Kyle E. McSlarrow | Republican | 102,717 | 41.6 | Alvin O. West | Independent | 5,601 | 2.3 | |||
| 1994 | James Moran | Democratic | 120,281 | 59.3 | Kyle E. McSlarrow | Republican | 79,568 | 39.3 | R. Ward Edmonds | Independent | 1,858 | 0.9 | |||
| 1996 | James Moran | Democratic | 152,334 | 66.4 | John E. Otey | Republican | 64,562 | 28.1 | R. Ward Edmonds | Independent | 6,243 | 2.7 | |||
| 1998 | James Moran | Democratic | 97,545 | 66.6 | Demaris H. Miller | Republican | 48,352 | 33.0 | |||||||
| 2000 | James Moran | Democratic | 164,178 | 63.3 | Demaris H. Miller | Republican | 88,262 | 34.0 | Ron Crickenberger | Independent | 3,483 | 1.3 | |||
| 2002 | James Moran | Democratic | 102,759 | 59.8 | Scott Tate | Republican | 64,121 | 37.3 | Ron Crickenberger | Independent | 4,558 | 2.6 | |||
| 2004 | James Moran | Democratic | 171,986 | 59.7 | Lisa Cheney | Republican | 106,231 | 36.9 | James Hurysz | Independent | 9,004 | 3.1 | |||
| 2006 | James Moran | Democratic | 144,700 | 66.4 | Tom O'Donoghue | Republican | 66,639 | 30.6 | James Hurysz | Independent | 6,094 | 2.8 | |||
| 2008 | James Moran | Democratic | 222,986 | 67.9 | Mark Ellmore | Republican | 97,425 | 29.7 | J. Ron Fisher | Independent Green | 6,829 | 2.1 | |||
| 2010 | James Moran | Democratic | 116,293 | 61.0 | Jay Patrick Murray | Republican | 71,108 | 37.3 | J. Ron Fisher | Independent Green | 2,704 | 1.4 | |||
| 2012 | James Moran | Democratic | 226,847 | 64.6 | Jay Patrick Murray | Republican | 107,370 | 30.6 | Jason J. Howell | Independent | 10,180 | 2.9 |
Moran has been married four times and divorced three times.[121] His second wife, Mary Howard Moran, filed for divorce in 1999, one day after an argument at the couple's Alexandria home that resulted in a visit from the police.[122] The Congressman provided his own divorce papers a few months later, and in 2003 the couple officially separated.[123] He remarried in 2004 to real estate developerLuAnn Bennett. In December 2010, Moran and Bennett announced they were separating.[124] Moran married a fourth time in 2025 on his 80th birthday to Deborah Warren.[125]
Moran is the father of four children. A son, Patrick B. Moran, once worked as a field director for one of Moran's election campaigns but resigned in 2012 when allegations of voter fraud surfaced.[106] Later in 2012, Patrick pleaded guilty to simple assault after being arrested after an incident with his girlfriend in front of aColumbia Heights bar on December 1.[126][127] He was sentenced to probation.[126][127]
Another one of Moran's children is Dorothy, who was diagnosed with an inoperablebrain tumor during her father's campaign for reelection againstKyle McSlarrow in 1994. It was said at the time that she had only a twenty percent chance of living to age five, but after almost two years ofchemotherapy and herbal therapies she was declared cancer-free.[15][128]
His brother,Brian Moran, is a former member of theVirginia House of Delegates, and the head of the Virginia Democratic Party between early 2011 and December 2012.[129] He was an unsuccessful primary candidate forGovernor of Virginia in the2009 election.[130]
Latest Major Action: 6/6/2005 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
Latest Major Action: 2/7/2005 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor ofAlexandria 1985–1990 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 8th congressional district 1991–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| New office | Chair of theNew Democrat Coalition 1997–2001 Served alongside:Cal Dooley,Tim Roemer | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
