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 ...
Social Darwinism.
The GOP gets busted for anything from the most trivial (e.g. Senator Packwood kissing a staffer) to the most extreme offense. Over time, this weeds out the weak among us, leaving the herd better off and stronger.
In contrast, Democrats get away with murder (e.g. Senator Kennedy @ Chappaquidic). This burdens them with a weak herd.
An important point. Whether Rat or Pub, past military performance is NO guarantee of future performance.
Look at Joe Wilson, for example -- he's getting rich on the "college lecture" tour, raking in fees hand-over-fist. Bill Clinton has similarly enriched himself.
So -why do a petty crime like this? It's just plain stupid, as well as immoral. For those that know him, i.e., his constituents, is he that stupid?
Why - because he was under felony indictment?
How about the 7 or 8 times this lifer ran previously? How many bribes did he take during those reelection campaigns? How much was he stealing from taxpayers then while alleging he was something other than a useless, criminal, greedy POS?
Republicans and democRats need to go - they have perverted and destroyed our Republic, turning it into just a gigantic careerist scam.
Duke Cunningham was one of my heroes! If I remember correctly, he reached the "ace" status as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War - in addition to being shot down by a SAM and just making it to the ocean for a friendly recovery.
Just goes to show you that just a hero in war can be a scumbag in another kind of service. Don't confuse the two.
He once was a better man than most and that includes you and I.
Which is why my reaction is a need to smack him in the chops and ask WTH happened.
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He took bribes in office and conspired to avoid paying taxes...you might want to set your threshold definition of 'a good man' a bit higher.
Did he return his jet, or steal and sell that too? Criminal POS.
He once was a better man than most and that includes you and I.
No, he was once a war hero.
That doesn't make him a better man. It only makes him a war hero.
He was a war hero, but remains a crook and a slimebag. If he valued service to his country so highly, he wouldn't have sold his office.
Duke was a great fighter pilot and is an honored veteran. He was a corrupt congressman, but you have to give him credit for admitting it and resigning. A 'Rat would likely entrench and start calling those pointing out his corruption 'racist baby killers.'
Apparently not.
No kidding - take a look at OldBobDole and McCain; our country would be much better off without both. Big Stupid Government hacks, both of them, wasted trillions of tax dollars and McCain was one of the corrupt Keating sleazeballs who now lectures the rest of us on the dangers of corruption.
"I remember hearing that T. Kennedy sold his VA house to someone with Arab links for way above his asking price. It was not considered influence buying or corruption, mind you. Anybody else remember that?"
Is this what your talking about?????
Kennedy gets $million bribe from Lippo Chinese on sale of
house
http://www.supremelaw.org/sls/email/box014/msg01471.htm
I love it. $2 mil a mistake?! The man is a scumbag.
I really want to know what companies bribed him !!!! ...
Every year we (a major defense contractor) have to go through ethics training and every year I protest the stupidity of it.
I just want ammo to stay home this year.
The piece of crap only resigned when it became obvious he was thoroughly corrupt. Now the only question is how long was he on the take, and how much did he really steal? Was he a corrupt thief as a pilot too?
Philosopher Immanual Kant once described the consequences of people who choose falsehoods over honesty when he said, "the greatest violation of a human being's duty to himself regarded merely as a moral being is the contrary of truthfulness, lying...by a lie a human being throws away and, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a human being."
"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."
The stupid fool did it the wrong way. When John Edwards was a Senator he "sold" his home to a Saudi Lobbyist who plunked down a $100,000 earnest money check. When he was "unable" to come up with the additional funds to buy the house, edwards kept the $100,000.
No ethics investigation and a nice $100,000 profit.
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