Posted on 11/28/2005 11:50:36 AM PST by standingfirm
SAN DIEGO — Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges involving the sale of his home two years ago to a defense contractor at an inflated price.
Admitting to a judge that he took bribes, Cunningham entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.
Cunningham, 63, and his wife, Nancy, used the proceeds from the $1,675,000 sale to defense contractor Mitchell Wade to buy a $2.55 million mansion in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe. Wade put the Del Mar house back on the market and sold it after nearly a year for $975,000 — a loss of $700,000.
Cunningham answered "yes, Your Honor" when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties.
Cunningham, an eight-term congressman, announced in July that he wouldn't seek re-election next year. The former Vietnam War flying ace is known on Capitol Hill for his interest in defense issues and his occasional temperamental outbursts.
He drew little notice outside his San Diego-area district before the San Diego Union-Tribune reported last June that he'd sold the home to Wade
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Exactly. It should be be repeated ad naseum;
"Kerry, McCain, Murtha, Cunningham, all veterans, all proof that, though we always honor and never forget our vets, who you were then doesn't necessarily dictate who you are now."
Of course the irony that both Kerry, his pal Clark and his mentor Kennedy are still actively working to undermine our country in very much the same ways as they did almost 40 years ago isn't lost on me.
A good man? Just another corrupt pol. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I used to like him but now I think that he is an idiot. Will his corruptness be covered more than the RATS rampant corruption? Yes it will, that is definite. Power corrupts.
In 1995, one million dollars in residential real estate would be 2 or 3 million dollars today.
Too bad most people are unaware of the names Lippo, Berger, etc. and White House "coffees." The MSM gave more air time to Republicans oppressing Asians just beginning to be active in US politics than they did to the actual investigation of Chinese funny money back in the 90's. Now China has technology they never would have had this soon.
Bingo!!!...I was thinking the same thing..that it's hard to imagine a more inept example of corruption...OTOH, do you remember ABSCAM..?
Your testimony is very perceptive and wise. Too bad most CA voters don't have your perspective
I remember Bob Dole preaching about integrity in his 1996 fiasco. Either people did not believe him, did not want to listen, or were so enchanted with the Clinton couple that they could not see straight.
Wilson violated his "finish-my-term" pledge because he knew that Bill Clinton had done so with such impunity in 1992. He thought that issue was no longer "viable" in politics. A politician as experienced as Wilson should have known that just because voters judged the Clintons one way does not mean that they will just others adversely for the same wrongdoings.
They're all crooks - it's just a matter of degree.
orrection: does not mean that they will NOT judge others adversely for the same wrongdoings.
There was a George Washington Plunkett in the 19th Century who talked of the difference between "honest" graft and "dishonest" graft. So it must mean that the popular Clintons do "honest" graft, and Mr. Cunningham in this case is a practitioner of "dishonest" graft.
No kidding.
I will not defend him but hope that he finds his own redemption. What he did was wrong, and because he is a Republican it is doubly wrong as I hold our members to a higher standard than Democrats. Now what I want to know is what is going to happen to the defense contractors who bribed him as they are guilty also. I hope they will receive equally visible and severe punishment.
I agree. Contractors too. And bush needs to be consistent. Sandy berglar. Misty Three.
This man has disgraced himself and his family and his party. He certainly isn't the only crook in the Congress, however, and we need to get ALL of them out, not just the Republicans.
ROTFL!
I meant that it is "honest" graft to the Clinton supporters, as with their Whitewater investments and cattle futures trading. You must remember that true-blue Clintoids excuse anything and everything the Clintons may do that is of questionable character. Yet only 2 percent of these voters told pollsters in 1998 that their moral standards were "lower" than those of the Clintons. A true-blue Clintoid is either naive, devious, or just plain stupid.
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