Posted on 11/28/2005 12:30:57 PM PST by RWR8189
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges and tearfully resigned from office, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators.
Cunningham, 63, entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.
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.
Later, at a news conference, he wiped away tears as he announced his resignation.
"I can't undo what I have done but I can atone," he said.
Cunningham, an eight-term Republican congressman, had already announced in July that he would not seek re-election next year.
House Ethics rules say that any lawmaker convicted of a felony no longer should vote or participate in committee work. Under Republican caucus rules, Cunningham also would have lost his chairmanship of the House Intelligence subcommittee on terrorism and human intelligence.
The former Vietnam War flying ace was known on Capitol Hill for his interest in defense issues and his occasional temperamental outbursts.
After the hearing, Cunningham was taken away for fingerprinting and released on his own recognizance until a Feb. 27 sentencing hearing. He could receive up to 10 years in prison.
He also agreed to forfeit to the government his Rancho Santa Fe home, more than $1.8 million in cash and antiques and rugs.
In a statement, prosecutors said Cunningham admitted to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes paid to him by several conspirators through a variety of methods, including checks totaling over $1 million, cash, rugs, antiques, furniture, yacht club fees and vacations.
"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. The statement did not identify the conspirators.
The case began when authorities started investigating whether Cunningham and his wife, Nancy, used the proceeds from the $1,675,000 sale to defense contractor Mitchell Wade to buy the $2.55 million mansion in 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.
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.
Cunningham's pleas 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.
""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. The statement did not identify the conspirators."
duh- his mistake was getting caught. I wonder how many congressman could stand up to the scutiny he was eventually put under.
And the Clintons still walk free...
Shame Shame Shame Shame.
Holy crap. I hope he gets all ten years but I doubt it. He was my congressman for awhile also and really liked the guy but I have no respect for him now.
What's the emoticon for me spitting in his face.
Yeah, I can't wait for the Republicans to take control of Congress so we can put some dems away.
And one of the most corrupt people in American politics was just elected Governor of New Jersey.
yet another good reason to be a lefty. :)
There was no "mistake" in this. He's a crook and I hope they throw the book at him. When are political officials, like Catholic priests, going to get it that their sins/crimes affect the entire body. This crap has got to be seriously punished and stopped. As a strong Catholic watching the priests' scandals and a Republican watching this kind of crap, it saddens me a lot. I expect this of democrats... not republicans. We are supposed to raise the bar of ethics.
I hope your not calling me a lefty. Holding fire until written and easily misinterpreted words are clarified.
very true. yet Corzine is a "hero" to the left and the media.
Doesn't make him any less of a sleeze-ball. Hope they throw the book at him.
bump
Standards do apply to Republicans, and they should. However, the same standards do not apply to Democrats!
> duh- his mistake was getting caught. I wonder how many congressman could stand up to the scutiny he was eventually put under.
I really hope you aren't saying that his crimes were no big deal and shouldn't be prosecuted.
I know it's our guy, but our guy broke the law and he deserves all the punishment he's going to get. If you believe different you're no different than the felonious Clintoons.
If the "it's ok if you get away with it" mentality has infested the GOP the way it infested the Dims, I weep for our country.
This last paragraph plays right into the stated Democratic strategy for 2006 of painting all Republicans as corrupt. The media (and, apparently some Republicans) are all too willing to assist the Dems in their strategy.
Good Grief! "We" are supposed to be the good guys. I hope they punish him to the fullest extent of the law.
This is a heartbreaking betrayal. Cunningham was my rep for a while before districts changed. I was proud to have him as my rep then. Vietnam Ace, Top Gun instructor. What went wrong? How stupid to do these things and think that its ok. It is beyond my understanding. Term limits maybe the only real answer. Sickening to give the democrats ammo like this.
The F-4 Phantom in the San Diego Aerospace museum is painted as his warbird from Vietnam . I used to visit the museum and feel proud that it was there, next to aircraft my father worked on in WWII. I dont know what to feel now. Two different men I guess. The one who served the country in good ways, and the one who betrayed it. How did that journey happen? Where was the point of no return?
Who else is doing this?
This felon is my congressman and his former residence is less than a mile from me. I felt punched in the gut when I first heard of his bogus sale earlier this year. How dare he besmirch the country, his office and the GOP with his crimes? Where did his wife think all the booty was coming from? He belongs in jail.
You are exactly correct. This is a world apart from asinine campaign finance garbage or Iran Contra - where the heart was in the right place. This is the crap of the House Postal scandal - even worse - and is rotten.
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