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.
As long as there is a government with the power to tax and spend at will, there will be politicians at its trough. The parties they belong to have no problem with it. Power corrupts.
> Who else is doing this?
This is what disturbs me most of all. Duke was a shining star amid the muck of California libroolery. If you asked me even a little while ago whether such a betrayal was even possible I would have told you that you were crazy.
If this is possible, then who else? And if other GOPers are going to be caught you just KNOW the control of Congress will flip to the dark side. D**N IT!!!!!
Very sad today... ***sigh***
One of the benefits of distancing ourselves from our whackos is that we don't end up with Howard Dean running our party.
Just saw him on FOX doing the crying thing and promising that he will atone for it. After some well deserved jail time I recommend atonement consist in part of living on what many of his poorer former constituants live on. The party and conservatives in general really did not need this. War hero or not. This just makes me look on him with disgust.
You can tell without reading if he is a Republican or a Democrat.
A Republican, falling to temptation and getting caught, will resign.
A Democrat, falling to temptation and getting caught, will blame everyone else and cling to the job until it is too embarrassing to try removing them.
>>bribes
I'm reminded that Democratic congressman Nick Mavroules of
Mass. was convicted of bribery, tax evasion, and influence
peddling (1992; sentenced to 15 months). Turned in by his son-in-law. Used "code" of "bottles of wine" (5 bottles of
wine = $5,000), leading Howie Carr to play the Fireballs
classic tune (bottle of wine, fruit of the vine; when you
gonna let me get sober?) on his talk show, and to dub
Mavroules (who died in '03) as "Nicky Pockets"
Lucky for us, he as a REPUBLICAN, otherwise we would not have heard it on the news.
That can't be. Like John Murtha, he is a veteran. There must be some mistake. (Extreme Sarcasm)
Absolutely all of them. He was honest about it when he got caught, most are not. Don't be naive. Politicians sell votes. It is their job, as far as they see it themselves.
Perhaps you should go back and review Duke's strenuous denials of wrongdoing...
Ever hear anyone admit to something before they have been caught?
As I understand it, he might have convinced himself that selling off his home to a contractor was OK, and once faced with the real charges, recognized that it was just plain bad.
Question: Of the 535 in Congress, how many have some kind of conflict of interest or bribery going on in the background???
Hint: Indian Gaming
Road Construction
Environmental regulations
yada yada yada...
He was not honest. He repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and even just a month ago his wife was claiming she should have half the proceeds the mansion sale because she was not implicated. Where did she think her jewelery and all the furniture for the 8000 square foot house was coming from? Thank heavens with such moral denseness she is now retired from the school district.
If he was smart he would have flipped to being a Democrat. Two advantages:
1) When he goes down he won't embarass Republicans...
2) Democrats always get a pass on graft.
If this had been one of our RINOs, it wouldn't seem as bad. But Cunningham's a 14-year Congressman with a consistently conservative voting pattern. With crucial mid-term races right around the corner, this doesn't help. And the tears make it all the more pathetic.
Here is ANOTHER example of why each must be judged as the man they've become -- not the man they were....
Semper Fi
Bye Bye Cunningham.
Hello Kaloogian
Sad to read the story. Usually there would be some rumors going around the media before this was announced?
Yes..........at least when Republicans are caught, they usually fall on the sword for the good of the party instead of dragging things on.
Actually that's not quite the worst thing. The worst thing is Levying war upon the United States, giving Aide and Comfort to their enemies". But of course the folks who do that are rarely punished these days.
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