Its Good to Be a Congressman

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It has come out today that Rep. Cunningham currently spends his time in DC living on a yacht owned by........ Mitchell Wade!

If true, this must be game, set, and match. This guy should get jail time, now, as far as I am concerned.

Under his own comments, I guess he will be buying Wade a yacht later on so things are equal.

[Peregrine]

The going rates for congressmen are definitely a lot cheaper than Senators. You usually have to include a high six-figure do-nothing job at your PAC, lobbying firm, or think tank after their term is over, did Cunningham get promised that?

[JPhillips]

As if we needed more comedy. The real estate agent that set all this up had never sold a house. Her very first commission was on the second house bought by Cunningham.

And it looks like the FBI is about to get involved now.

[MrBigglesworth]

Just to heap on the meme of corrupt congressmen, here is something new about Frist covering up for a vaccine additive that causes autism, and sheilding his corporate contributors from liability:

On five separate occasions, Frist has tried to seal all of the government’s vaccine-related documents – including the Simpsonwood transcripts – and shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist quietly slipped a rider known as the “Eli Lilly Protection Act” into a homeland security bill, the company contributed $10,000 to his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism

Our government is run by K street. It's hard to find a bill passed right now that is not a major corporate handout.

[Peregrine]

Wait a minute, I'm sure Eli Lilly was just very interested in Frist's views on bioterrorism, and were...umm...worried that they'd lose the book, so they needed to buy a few extra copies. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Too funny. I would like him to spend the next few months talking about vaccines rather than the jibber jabbish of court appointments and diagnosing Schiavo (incorrectly I might add) from a videotape.

That said I would like to see all unethical congressman (Rep. or Dem.) booted from Congress, but then no one would be left.

[cartman]

Looks like he isn't going to get away with this.

hxxp://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050628-1529-ca-congressmanshouse.html

Federal grand jury issues document subpoena to Cunningham


By Seth Hettena
ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:29 p.m. June 28, 2005

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury issued a document subpoena to Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, his attorney said Tuesday. Prosecutors in San Diego are investigating Cunningham's sale of his home to a defense contractor at what may have been an inflated $1.675 million price.

Cunningham's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, disclosed the subpoena in a brief statement, but did not specify what documents were being sought. Blalack said the Del Mar Republican directed him to comply with the subpoena expeditiously.

Reached by phone, Blalack declined further comment.

Cunningham, a former Navy "Top Gun" fighter pilot and eight-term congressman, sold his home in 2003 to Mitchell Wade, a campaign contributor, close friend and executive of MZM Inc., a defense contractor that was enjoying a rush of new business with the Pentagon.

Wade bought Cunningham's home in Del Mar in November 2003. Wade put the house back on the market a short time later and it sold after nearly a year for $975,000 – a loss of $700,000 in one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

Separately, MZM overhauled its management team amid questions over whether the company will be harmed by the investigation. In a brief statement Tuesday, MZM said James C. King, a retired three-star Army general, was taking over as president and chief executive. That role was previously held by Wade, who founded the company in 1993.

King succeeds the management team of Frank Bragg Jr. and Kay Coles James, both of whom voluntarily resigned, according to the statement. King served as director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, now known as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, before his retirement in 2001.

The statement made no mention of Wade. An MZM spokesman did not return calls seeking comment.

MZM said it was exploring "strategic alternatives" to remain in business as a defense agency confirmed that it had halted new work on a contract that has provided the Washington, D.C.-based company with $163 million in revenue.

The contract was a $225 million, five-year blanket purchase agreement for engineering and technical support for intelligence that records show has been used by both the Defense Department and the Executive Office of the President.