Congressman pleads guilty to bribery charges, resigns

[ChumpDumper]

Calif. Congressman Admits Taking Bribes

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 45 minutes ago

SAN DIEGO - Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, an eight-term congressman and hotshot Vietnam War fighter jock, pleaded guilty to graft and tearfully resigned Monday, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors to steer business their way.

"The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office," the 63-year-old Republican said at a news conference. "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."

He could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing Feb. 27 on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud, and tax evasion.

Investigators said Cunningham, a member of a House Appropriations subcommittee that controls defense dollars, secured contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for those who paid him off. Prosecutors did not identify the defense contractors.

Cunningham was charged in a case that grew out of an investigation into the sale of his home to a defense contractor at an inflated price.

The congressman had already announced in July — after the investigation became public — that he would not seek re-election next year. But until he entered his plea, he had insisted he had done nothing wrong.

Cunningham's plea came amid a series of GOP scandals: Rep.
Tom DeLay of Texas had to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in a campaign finance case; a stock sale by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is being looked at by regulators; and Vice President
Dick Cheney's chief of staff was indicted in the
CIA leak case.

Cunningham, a swaggering former flying ace with the Navy during the Vietnam War, was known on Capitol Hill for his interest in defense issues and his occasional outbursts.

In court documents, prosecutors said Cunningham admitted receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes paid in a variety of forms, including checks totaling over $1 million, cash, antiques, rugs, furniture, yacht club fees and vacations.

Among other things, prosecutors said, Cunningham was given $1.025 million to pay down the mortgage on his Rancho Santa Fe mansion, $13,500 to buy a Rolls-Royce and $2,081 for his daughter's graduation party at a Washington hotel.

"He did the worst thing an elected official can do — he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there," U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said.

Cunningham was allowed to remain free while he awaits sentencing. He also agreed to forfeit his mansion, more than $1.8 million in cash, and antiques and rugs.

The case began when authorities started investigating Cunningham's sale of his Del Mar house to defense contractor Mitchell Wade for $1,675,000. Wade sold the house nearly a year later for $975,000 — a loss of $700,000 in a hot real estate market.

Prosecutors did not specify if the house purchase was part of Cunningham's guilty pleas.

In addition to buying Cunningham's home at an inflated price, Wade let him live rent-free on the congressman's yacht, the Duke Stir, at a yacht club. Wade's company, MZM Inc., also donated generously to Cunningham's campaigns.

Around the same time, MZM was winning defense contracts.

___

Associated Press reporter Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051128/ap_on_go_co/congressman_s_house_16;_ylt=Apk9pcYIFiG0DPsQFXuQD_ yGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[Oh, Gee!!]

goddam republicans

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, USAToday had an "other scandals" blurb that listed 4 Republicans and only 1 Democrat -- so the vast left-wing conspiracy rides on!

[spurster]

He is chair (rather was chair) of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism/HUMINT Analysis and Counterintelligence. Nice to know these guys can be bribed.

[SA210]

This is just ridiculous. And this was the party that was to restore integrity. :rolleyes

[exstatic]

Is greed a family value?

[boutons]

washingtonpost.com

A Growing Wariness About Money in Politics

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 29, 2005; A01

For several years now, corporations and other wealthy interests have made ever-larger campaign contributions, gifts and sponsored trips part of the culture of Capitol Hill. But now, with fresh guilty pleas by a lawmaker and a public relations executive, federal prosecutors -- and perhaps average voters -- may be concluding that the commingling of money and politics has gone too far.

After years in which big-dollar dealings have come to dominate the interaction between lobbyists and lawmakers, both sides are now facing what could be a wave of prosecutions in the courts and an uprising at the ballot box. Extreme examples of the new business-as-usual are no longer tolerated.

Republicans, who control the White House and Congress, are most vulnerable to this wave. But pollsters say that voters think less of both political parties the more prominent the issue of corruption in Washington becomes, and that incumbents generally could feel the heat of citizen outrage if the two latest guilty pleas multiply in coming months.

No fewer than seven lawmakers, including a Democrat, have been indicted, have pleaded guilty or are under investigation for improper conduct such as conspiracy, securities fraud and improper campaign donations. Congress's approval ratings have fallen off the table, in some measure because of headlines about these scandals.

"The indictments and the investigations have strengthened the feeling that people have that in fact there's too much money in Washington and that the money is being used to influence official decisions," said William McInturff, a Republican pollster with Public Opinion Strategies. "Polls show that neither party is held in high regard."

The latest court case came yesterday in San Diego when Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) wept openly after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy. His plea bargain came less than a week after public relations executive Michael Scanlon coolly admitted his role in a conspiracy to try to bribe a congressman.

Members of Congress, lawyers and pollsters recognize that both events taken together could signal the start of a cyclical ritual in the nation's capital: the moment when lawmakers and outsiders are widely seen as getting too cozy with each other and face a public backlash -- and legal repercussions -- as a result.

"I've been in town for 30 years, and it seems that every 10 years or so there is an episode of this type," said Jan W. Baran, a Republican ethics lawyer at Wiley Rein & Fielding. "We clearly are at that period now."

"It's gotten to a level that it can't be ignored anymore," agreed Stanley M. Brand, a criminal defense lawyer at Brand & Frulla who used to work for Democrats in Congress.

The worst of the blowback, both legal and electoral, could be blunted if ongoing probes turn up little or nothing. Indeed, some of the investigations are in the early stages and may take months or years to resolve. In addition, experts say that the most prominent cases are aberrational or else there would be even more investigations and indictments than there are.

Yet the activities under scrutiny can also be viewed as logical extensions of actions that once were rare but over time have become commonplace: massive political fundraising, freewheeling private travel given to lawmakers by groups interested in legislation, and the bestowing of other gifts and benefits on government officials by lobbyists.

As the Scanlon case demonstrates, the extent of this favor-buying has gone so far that the Justice Department is no longer deterred from bringing charges even if the gifts fall within Congress's gift-giving limits or are below campaign finance maximums. "It doesn't matter," Brand said. Charges could come, he said, if "anything of value is given to a public official that can be linked to an official act."

Scanlon was a partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and they are under investigation for improperly extracting $82 million from Indian tribes. Scanlon has agreed to return $19 million and is cooperating with authorities who have broadened their inquiries to include at least half a dozen lawmakers, some lawmakers' spouses and several aides-turned-lobbyists, lawyers involved in the case have said.

Prosecutors have told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), and his former chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery case against them, The Washington Post has reported. About 40 investigators and prosecutors are also looking into the activities of several lawmakers, including Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R), who is facing unrelated campaign finance charges in his home state of Texas. Burns, Doolittle and DeLay have denied any wrongdoing.

The Post has also reported that investigators are gathering information about Abramoff's hiring of several congressional wives, including DeLay's wife, Christine, who worked from 1998 to 2002 with a lobbying firm run by former DeLay staffers, and Doolittle's wife, Julie, who owned a consulting firm that was hired by Abramoff and his former law firm, Greenberg Traurig, to do fundraising for a charity he founded.

Separately, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed in connection with probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department into his sale of millions of dollars' worth of stock in HCA Inc., the Nashville-based hospital chain founded by his father and brother. And in yet another case, Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) is under investigation by the Justice Department for possible violations connected with a telecommunications deal he was trying to arrange in Nigeria. Both lawmakers say they did nothing wrong.

At least partly because of public reports of these inquiries, voters' approval and disapproval of Congress has turned upside down since the start of 2001. In January 2001, 59 percent of Americans approved of the way Congress was doing its job and 34 percent disapproved, according a Washington Post-ABC survey. Earlier this month, the same poll showed that 37 percent approved and 59 percent disapproved.

In addition, for the first time in its 15-year history, the Wall Street Journal-NBC poll this year showed that the public's negative feelings exceeded their positive feelings about both political parties at the same time. "These are cautionary notes that are affecting both parties' political standing," McInturff said.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

[Nbadan]

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051128/capt.cali10411282021.congressmans_house_cali104.jp g

Cunningham recently told the Washington Post that Democrats blunting Republican legislation “ought to be lined up and shot. I’m talking about the liberal leadership.”

[Nbadan]

Cunningham was a real charmer...


May 11, 1995

A House debate over water pollution erupts in furor when Cunningham declares that lawmakers backing an amendment he opposes are the same people who support "homos in the military." Later, he tells Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., "Sit down, you socialist!"

Nov. 17, 1995

Colleagues and Capitol police break up a scuffle that erupts after Cunningham tangles with Rep. James Moran, D-Va., a former amateur boxer, during a debate on a Republican-sponsored resolution to bar President Clinton from sending U.S. troops to Bosnia without prior congressional approval.
...
September 1998

At a forum for prostate cancer sufferers, Cunningham makes a crude reference about a fellow congressman who is gay and, in a fit of temper, directs an obscene gesture toward an audience member, telling him, "(expletive) you."

Sign on San Diego (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050715-9999-lz1n15timelne.html)

[Phil E.Buster]

Serves him right..pompous asshole.

[101A]

I am generally against the death penalty, except in cases of treason.

Accepting bribes which affect legislation is treasonous.

[SA210]

Just imagine all the ones doing it and haven't gotten caught, and what damage they are doing. That's scary.

[Dos]

gee democrats never are corrupted either by money..... lol

Sen. Bayh ranks 4th in privately paid trips


By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has racked up one of the largest tabs in Congress for privately paid travel during the past 5½ years.
Outside interests have paid $169,227 to send Bayh, and sometimes his wife, around the world since 2000 -- the fourth-highest amount in Congress, according to a database of travel reports compiled by politicalmoneyline.com, an independent Web site that tracks congressional travel, campaign spending and lobbying.

Sen. Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, ranks 14th.
The next-highest ranked Indiana lawmaker, Rep. Mark Souder, comes in at 153 out of 637 lawmakers who took at least one privately paid trip since 2000.
The database does not include trips taken by lawmakers' aides and does not go back to 1996, the first year lawmakers and their staffers had to disclose privately paid travel within 30 days of returning from the trip.
Bayh reported a total of 44 privately paid trips since 2000. Twelve foreign trips accounted for more than 60 percent of the private money spent for Bayh's travel.
Trips to China cost $40,524
The Mansfield Center for Public Affairs, a public policy group in Washington, sent Bayh and his wife, Susan, to China in 2000, 2001 and 2002 for a combined cost of $40,524.
Bayh's positions on China have been mixed. He voted with most senators in 2000 to make permanent China's standing as a normal U.S. trading partner. But recently, Bayh has been among the members of Congress complaining that the United States hasn't done enough to combat unfair trade practices in China, such as an undervalued currency and violations of patents and copyrights.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry sent the Bayhs on a tour of India last year that cost $17,692, the second-most-expensive trip taken by anyone in Indiana's congressional delegation for the past decade.
"Senator Bayh traveled to India for the same reasons he traveled to China, because it is a growing presence in the global market whose impact on Indiana and America will only continue to increase over the coming years," Bayh spokeswoman Meg Keck said.
Keck said the India trip included visits to several high-tech economic and business centers.
Bayh's father, former Sen. Birch Bayh D-Ind., is a Washington lobbyist and was recently hired by India to help work out a nuclear technology agreement between the two countries. Congress has to OK the deal that would provide the technology India needs to build nuclear power plants.
Keck said Bayh's trip to India was not related to his father's lobbying work.
More than one-third of Bayh's trips since 2000 have been paid for by the Democratic Leadership Council, the moderate Democratic group that Bayh headed from 2001 through July of this year. Bayh traveled to various meetings the group held across the country.
Majority of trips to conferences

Twenty-one of the 33 privately paid trips Lugar took since 2000 were to Aspen Institute conferences on such topics as U.S. policy in Latin America, relations with Russia, and "political Islam." Former Sen. Dick Clark of Iowa started the conferences to give lawmakers more expertise in foreign affairs.
The Aspen Institute spent more than any other private group on congressional travel since 2000, according to politicalmoneyline.com.
Lugar's spokesman said the conferences have helped the senator develop legislation, including an effort to expand the program he helped create to secure or destroy weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.

Contact Star Washington Bureau reporter Maureen Groppe at (202) 906-8118 or at [email protected]

[DarkReign]

I know "who started it"...but this is BS.

The Democrats havent controlled all branches of government since....shit...I dont know.

Regardless, if Dems were the majority in all 3, then it would be Dems on the front page of scandal.

Jeeezz...calm down. This isnt a Dem or Repub issue.

Its a politician issue. Politicians = corrupt lawyers. Thats why I get so amused with people on both sides who are so loyal to these dipshits. These "people" are the lowest common denominator of society in terms of moral conduct and ethical professionalism.

My message: Dont latch on to one side or the other. Limiting yourself to the lesser of two evils is a little unbecoming of a truly free society, imo.

[101A]

Just imagine all the ones doing it and haven't gotten caught, and what damage they are doing. That's scary.


Less power in the government is a good thing.

BTW: How the hell is congress so screwed up that a single individual can have SO much affect on who gets contracts for what?

Take two seconds and follow the money for the answer.

[101A]

Thats why I get so amused with people on both sides who are so loyal to these dipshits.

:hat

[boutons]

"Less power in the government is a good thing."

bullshit.
Govt is the only credible defense of the public against corporations and business.

[101A]

^^^ Because only the most noble individuals with the BEST of intentions enter govt. service.

Because the public is SO informed about the daily workings of their government and the individuals within it that they can make sure nothing untoward happens.

With business (with complicit agents, and "clients" in the government, you get the Enron debacle. With government you get a bankrupt social security "trust" fund.

Hmmmmm. Which one affects more people?

[101A]

"Less power in the government is a good thing."

bullshit.
Govt is the only credible defense of the public against corporations and business.

My checkbook is my defense against corporations and business. My government is immune to that armor.

[JoeChalupa]

The days of entering politics to "do good" are coming to an end.

But people like Barack Obama give me hope.

[101A]

I believe many people, on both sides, have entered government with good intentions; most even.

But...

Power corrupts, yada yada yada

[boutons]

When corps own the govt, the corps get what they want, and they public gets screwed.

The public knows essentially nothing of what is going on in federal government, which is exactly how dickhead, especially, and the corps want it.

[101A]

So our government checks and balances are so fragile that they can be completely and utterly hijacked in a period of a few years, completely run by corporations and be utterly corrupt!!

And YOU want to give this corrupt, horrible, most powerfull entity in the known universe MORE POWER??!!!

[Duff McCartney]

When will people learn...democracy simply doesn't work.

[101A]

Parphrasing:

To be a physician I must go to school, pass a test, to be a lawyer I must do the same, to be a carpenter, a mason or any other tradesman, I must be trained. To make choices to run a democratic nation I must simply....have a pulse!!!

- Plato

or


"It's the worst, except for all the others" - B. Franklin

[JoeChalupa]

I know "who started it"...but this is BS.

The Democrats havent controlled all branches of government since....shit...I dont know.

Regardless, if Dems were the majority in all 3, then it would be Dems on the front page of scandal.

Jeeezz...calm down. This isnt a Dem or Repub issue.

Its a politician issue. Politicians = corrupt lawyers. Thats why I get so amused with people on both sides who are so loyal to these dipshits. These "people" are the lowest common denominator of society in terms of moral conduct and ethical professionalism.

My message: Dont latch on to one side or the other. Limiting yourself to the lesser of two evils is a little unbecoming of a truly free society, imo.

I concur. Term limits is my suggestion.

Get voted in, do your best with the time you have and don't worry about "polls" showing you may not get re-elected because it wouldn't matter.

[xrayzebra]

"Less power in the government is a good thing."

bullshit.
Govt is the only credible defense of the public against corporations and business.

You live in a dream world, boutons. You are dumb as a door knob.

[101A]

I concur. Term limits is my suggestion.

Get voted in, do your best with the time you have and don't worry about "polls" showing you may not get re-elected because it wouldn't matter.


Problem w/term limits = no accountability lame ducks. Also "better make it while you can".

For reference see the SA City Council; a paragon of selfless public service if ever there was one. :rolleyes

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Why are americans so stupid? Every one going down on charges is a republican but both parties are looked upon as bad now?

whatever

[101A]

Why are americans so stupid? Every one going down on charges is a republican but both parties are looked upon as bad now?

whatever

See "Torricelli, Robert"

You think the Dems are all virtuous and above board. Really?

You forgotten the Chinese funding of the DMC?
The mass pardons on Clinton's way out the door?

Stupid is as stupid does.

[Oh, Gee!!]

Stupid is as stupid does.

http://www.machelpmaui.com/blogart/dubya.jpg

[Oh, Gee!!]

that was too easy. sorry

[RandomGuy]

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) yesterday defended Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) after calls from congressional Democrats to investigate the Republican appropriator for selling his San Diego home to a defense contractor whose firm had received $65 million in federal funds in 2004.

“Duke Cunningham is a hero,” DeLay said during a press briefing Tuesday. “He is an honorable man of high integrity.”
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/061505/delay.html

It should be noted with some honesty here by this Democrat that he also said as much about another Congressman that seemed to be in the same situation...

At the briefing, DeLay also defended Democratic Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), who was the subject of a Los Angeles Times article questioning the lobbying activities of Murtha’s brother in connection with passage of last year’s $417 billion defense spending bill.

The article said Murtha’s brother, Robert “Kit” Murtha, is a senior partner at a Washington lobbying firm that represented 10 companies that received a combined $20.8 million in contracts from the defense bill.

“I know that John Murtha is an honorable man,” DeLay said during the briefing, adding that he did not know any details of the article. “He is a man of great integrity.”

DeLay would not say if the House planned to investigate either member.

“We’re always concerned when a member of Congress violates the rules of the House,” DeLay said before adding, “Just because it appears in an article doesn’t mean a thing.”

Interesting. I'm not sure I would want Delay as a character witness anyways, heh.

[101A]

Therapist: OK mister DeLay, I'm going to say a name, you say the first thing that comes to your mind...

"Murtha" - "Great Character and Integrity"
"Cunningham" - "Great Character and Integrity"
"Bush" - "Great Character and Integrity"
"Clinton" - "Great Character and Integrity"
"Nixon" - "Great Character and Integrity"
"Frank" - "Wednesday at Noon"

[boutons]

The Repug script has changed, everybody's "on message" trying to distance from Duke C.

The New York Times
November 30, 2005

Republicans Denounce Ex-Lawmaker
By JOHN M. BRODER and CARL HULSE

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29 - Concerned that the stain of former Representative Randy Cunningham's admission that he took bribes and evaded taxes could damage the party's prospects, President Bush and other Republican leaders issued strong denunciations of Mr. Cunningham's actions on Tuesday.

With several investigations focusing on top Republican officials and growing public unease over the war in Iraq and economic policy at home, party leaders moved to distance themselves and their party from Mr. Cunningham's felony plea.

Though some Republican officials said Democrats in Congress were equally guilty of questionable behavior, including lobbyist-paid trips and underreporting of campaign contributions, they acknowledged that Republicans, because they control the White House and Congress, are being held to a higher standard by many voters. They also expressed shock and embarrassment at the extent of Mr. Cunningham's wrongdoing, which the president described on Tuesday as "outrageous."

Mr. Bush, answering a question about Mr. Cunningham's resignation from a reporter in El Paso, said members of Congress must take their legal and ethical obligations seriously.

"The idea of a congressman taking money is outrageous," the president said. "And Congressman Cunningham is going to realize that he has broken the law and is going to pay a serious price, which he should."

Mr. Cunningham, an eight-term representative from San Diego, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he took at least $2.4 million in bribes to steer Pentagon contracts to two friends. He announced his resignation from Congress hours after entering his plea.

Representative David Dreier, the California Republican who heads the House Rules Committee, said Mr. Cunningham had violated the ethical standards of the House and was right to resign immediately.

"It is regretful that his great service to this country has been tarred by his actions," Mr. Dreier said in a statement.

The case intensified attention to charges of ethical and legal violations by members of Congress, including such influential leaders as Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader in the Senate, and Representative Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican who was forced to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in Texas in September.

In addition, three of Mr. Cunningham's Republican colleagues in California have drawn scrutiny for possible violations of House ethics rules.

One of them, Representative John T. Doolittle, has acknowledged that his wife, Julie, who runs a marketing firm in Washington, has been subpoenaed in the federal investigation of the former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Doolittle's former chief of staff, Kevin A. Ring, briefly worked for Mr. Abramoff after leaving Mr. Doolittle's Congressional office.

Mr. Doolittle's press secretary, Laura Blackann, said that Mr. Doolittle had not been contacted by the Justice Department in connection with the Abramoff investigation and that any dealings between the two men were proper and legal.

Another California Republican, Representative Dana Rohrabacher from Orange County, has acknowledged receiving a $23,000 option on a screenplay from a Hollywood producer who last month was charged with multiple counts of fraud in connection with an investment scheme.

Mr. Rohrabacher acknowledged introducing the producer, Joseph Medawar, to several officials in Washington, with the understanding that Mr. Medawar was working on a television series about the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Rohrabacher said that the House ethics committee had approved his screenplay deal with Mr. Medawar and that he was unaware of any possible fraud.

"I have not seen all the evidence," he said. "Whether he is a flamboyant incompetent or he's a con man will be determined by the jury."

A third California Republican, Representative Richard W. Pombo, has been criticized by Democrats as failing to report the value of two foreign trips paid for by a lobby group, paying family members from political accounts, and accepting campaign contributions from Mr. Abramoff and Mr. DeLay.

Mr. Pombo dismissed the accusations as partisan attacks.

Karen Hanretty, communications director for the California Republican Party, said the attacks were part of a broader assault on Republicans.

"There's always a roomful of researchers who are digging up dirt on the opposition," Ms. Hanretty said, "and that's just part of the political game, whether it's at the state level or the national level."

"The party that holds power in D.C. always comes under greater scrutiny," she said.

But accusations of ethical violations pale beside Mr. Cunningham's admitted criminal conduct.

According to his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Mr. Cunningham, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from two military contractors while helping them win Pentagon contracts.

Lawyers involved in the case identified the contractors as Mitchell J. Wade, founder of MZM Inc., a company he has since sold that provides intelligence services to the Pentagon and other government agencies, and Brent Wilkes, founder of a data processing company that did business with the Defense Department.

Prosecutors said the contractors also gave Mr. Cunningham hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gifts, including a Rolls-Royce, two 19th-century French commodes, four armoires, a wooden sideboard with turned wooden spindles, three nightstands, a necklace, a laser shooting simulator and $15,000 worth of Oriental carpets (described in court documents as "one Indo Herati, one Karaja, one Indo Keshan and two Cino Kerman rugs").

The contractors also paid for tens of thousands of dollars' worth of repairs to the Rolls-Royce and to Mr. Cunningham's boat, the Kelly C, and essentially bought the former congressman a $2.55 million home in the exclusive San Diego County community of Rancho Santa Fe.

Under the plea deal, Mr. Cunningham has to forfeit the house, $1.8 million in cash, and all the rugs and antiques.

Carol C. Lam, the United States attorney for the Southern District of California, called Mr. Cunningham's actions "a crime of unprecedented magnitude and extraordinary audacity." Ms. Lam said the investigation was continuing.

Calls to Mr. Cunningham's office were not returned. He made no public appearances on Tuesday.

John M. Broder reported from Los Angeles for this article, and Carl Hulse from Washington.

* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

[101A]

^^^ Good for them.

[RandomGuy]

I have been inspired to add Delay's defense of Cunningham to my siggy, enjoy.

[gtownspur]

There has been more Democrat scandals than republican ones.

[Yonivore]

On the tenth of May, 1972 Lieutenant Randy Cunningham and his RIO, LT(JG) Willie Driscoll, flying a Phantom F-4J, ShowTime 100, would shoot down two MIGs, making them the first American aces of the Vietnam War. Then they would shoot down a third. This account from Ace Pilots (http://www.acepilots.com/vietnam/cunningham.html):


They were participating in a strike against the Hai Dong railyards, on flak suppression, when a score of enemy fighters challenged them. ... After dropping their bombs on some warehouses, Showtime 100 loitered to cover the A-7 fighter-bombers still engaged. Responding to a call for help, Cunningham took his F-4J into a group of MiG-17s ("Frescoes"), two of which promptly jumped them. Heeding a "break" warning from Grant in Showtime 113, Cunningham broke sharply and the lead pursuing MiG-17 overshot him. He instantly reversed his turn, putting the MiG dead ahead; he loosed a Sidewinder and it destroyed the MiG.

... VF-96 Exec, Cdr Dwight Timm had three MiGs on his tail, one being very close, in Timm's blind spot. ... After more maneuvering, Cunningham re-engaged the MiG-17 still threatening his XO. He called again for him to break, adding, "If you don't break NOW you are going to die." The XO finally accelerated and broke hard right. The MiG couldn't follow Showtime 112's high speed turn, leaving "Duke" clear to fire.

Calling "Fox Two," Cunningham fired his second Sidewinder while the MiG still inside the minimum firing range. But the high speed of the Fresco worked against it, as the Sidewinder had time to arm and track to its target. It homed into the tail pipe of the MiG-17 and exploded. Seconds later, Cunningham and Driscoll, finding themselves alone in a sky full of bandits, disengaged and headed for the Constellation.

As they approached the coast at 10,000 feet, Cunningham spotted another MiG-17 heading straight for them. ... The MiG's nose lit up like a Roman candle! ... In an effort to out-climb the MiG, Cunningham went to afterburners, which put him above the enemy aircraft. As he started to pull over the top, the MiG began shooting. This was Cunningham's second near-fatal mistake; he had given his opponent a predictable flight path, and he had taken advantage of it. Duke rolled off to the other side, and the MiG closed in behind.

Not wanting to admit he was getting beaten, he called to Willie, "That S.O.B. is really lucky! All right, we'll get this guy now!" With the MiG at his four o'clock, he nosed down to pick up speed and energy. Cunningham watched until the MiG pilot likewise committed his nose down. "Gotcha!" he thought, as he pulled up into the MiG, rolled over the top, got behind it. While too close to fire a missile, the maneuver placed Duke in an advantageous position.

He pulled down, holding top rudder, to press for a shot, and the MiG pulled up into him, shooting! He thought, "Maybe this guy isn't just lucky after all!" The Communist pilot used the same maneuver Duke had just tried, pulling up into him, and forcing an overshoot. The two jets were in a classic rolling scissors. As his nose committed, Duke pulled up into his opponent again.

As they slowed to 200 knots, the MiG's superior maneuverability at low speed would gave him more advantage. A good fighter pilot, like Kenny Rogers' poker player, "knows when to hold, and knows when to fold." This was the MiG's game; it was time to go. When the MiG raised his nose for the next climb, Cunningham lit his afterburners and, at 600 knots airspeed, quickly got two miles away from the MiG, out of his ATOL missile range. ... Cunningham nosed up 60 degrees, the MiG stayed right with him. Just as before, they went into another vertical rolling scissors.

... Driscoll strained to keep sight of the MiG, as Duke pitched back towards him for the third time.

Once again, he met the MiG-17 head-on, this time with an offset so he couldn't fire his guns. As he pulled up vertically he could again see his determined adversary a few yards away. Still gambling, Cunningham tried one more thing. He yanked the throttles back to idle and popped the speed brakes, in a desperate attempt to drop behind the MiG. But, in doing so, he had thrown away the Phantom's advantage, its superior climbing ability. And if he stalled out ...

The MiG shot out in front of Cunningham for the first time, the Phantom's nose was 60 degrees above the horizon with airspeed down to 150 knots. He had to go to full burner to hold his position. The surprised enemy pilot attempted to roll up on his back above him. Using only rudder to avoid stalling the F-4, he rolled to the MiG's blind side. He tried to reverse his roll, but as his wings banked sharply, he briefly stalled the aircraft and his nose fell through. Behind the MiG, but still too close for a shot. "This is no place to be with a MiG-17," he thought, "at 150 knots... this slow, he can take it right away from you."

Now the MiG tried to disengage; he pitched over the top and started straight down. Cunningham pulled hard over, followed, and maneuvered to obtain a firing position. With the distracting heat of the ground, Cunningham wasn't sure that a Sidewinder would home in on the MiG, but he called "Fox Two," and squeezed one off. The missile came off the rail and flew right at the MiG. He saw little flashes off the MiG, and thought he had missed. As he started to fire his last Sidewinder, there was an abrupt burst of flame. Black smoke erupted from the Fresco. It didn't seem to go out of control; the fighter just kept slanting down, smashing into the ground at about 45 degrees angle.

Just who the third pilot Cunningham shot down that day is the subject of dispute. Some say it was "the top Vietnamese ace known as 'Col. Tomb' in the media" other said it was "a flight leader or squadron commander of the 923rd Regiment".

On November 29, 2005 Congressman Randy Cunningham pled guilty to receiving $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors and evading more than $1M in taxes, according to the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-duke29nov29,0,7903329.story?coll=la-home-business).


"I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my high office," Cunningham, 63, said outside the federal courthouse. "I know I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation [and] my high office." Cunningham left without answering questions.

No defense, no excuse, no rationalizing, no mitigating, no minimalizing, no deflection, no projection, no justifying... Wow! Even in guilt he's a classier act than any Democrat who ever got caught.

AE Houseman, in his poem To An Athlete Dying Young (http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco/literature/alfrededwardhousman/poems/ashropshirelad/toanathletedyingyoung.html) wrote about the human need to keep youthful triumph safe from the corruption of time.


Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

They were two different days, separated by 32 years. The grandfather paradox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox) argues that the past exists independently of the present, that it remains graven in the mind of God, beyond our power to alter -- or to besmirch. Whatever Randy Cunningham did in later life, it remains true that on the tenth of May, 1972 ShowTime 100 would shoot down two MIGs, then a third. ...

I can abhor his criminal acts and revere his heroism. Similarly, I can appreciate that he is willing to take full responsibility for his actions.

[ChumpDumper]

He shat all over his own legacy.

[Nbadan]

We don't even know the half of the Dukester's crooked past and a great example of money laundering...

"Cunningham Stripped $700 Million from U.S. Defense
'Dukester's' Epic Boo-Hoo Hiding Massive Pentagon Rip-Off
*World Exclusive*
Nov 30 2005--Venice,FL.
by Daniel Hopsicker


The MadCowMorningNews has learned that California Republican Congressman Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham steered $500 million in defense contracts in less than a decade, according to the company’s own website, to a start-up San Diego software firm which—and here’s the beauty part—doubled as a lobbying firm.

The lobbying firm then gratefully kicked back—at a bare minimum—hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to a Jack Abramoff-directed Washington D.C. lobbying and consulting firm run by two former senior staffers of Texas Republican Tom DeLay.

It offered, in other words, one-stop shopping.

While the focus was on the $2 million in bribes paid to Cunningham after his guilty plea, the question of just what the Congressman had done for all that long green received scant media attention."

Mad Cow (http://www.madcowprod.com/index.html)