Lawmaker Quits After
He Pleads
Guilty to Bribes
By JOHN M. BRODER,
NYTimes on the Web, November 29, 2005
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 28 --
Representative Randy Cunningham, a Republican from San Diego, resigned from
Congress on Monday, hours after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million
in bribes to help friends and campaign contributors win military contracts.
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Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press
Representative Randy Cunningham announced in July that he wouldn't
seek re-election |
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Mr. Cunningham, a highly decorated
Navy fighter pilot in Vietnam, tearfully acknowledged his guilt in a statement
read outside the federal courthouse in San Diego.
"The truth is, I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office,"
he said. "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly
possessions and, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."
Mr. Cunningham, 63, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of
conspiracy to commit bribery, tax evasion, wire fraud and mail fraud. He
faces up to 10 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and
forfeitures.
Prosecutors said he received cash, cars, rugs, antiques, furniture, yacht club
fees, moving expenses and vacations from four unnamed co-conspirators in
exchange for aid in winning military contracts. None of this income was
reported to the Internal Revenue Service or on the congressman's financial
disclosure forms, the government said.
Mr. Cunningham, who is known as Duke, lived while in Washington on a 42-foot
yacht, named the Duke-Stir, owned by one of the military contractors that
received tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts that prosecutors said
Mr. Cunningham helped steer its way.
Mr. Cunningham, who is known for his combative conservatism and his emotional
outbursts, served on the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations
Committee and as chairman of the House Intelligence subcommittee on terrorism
and human intelligence.
"He did the worst thing an elected official can do," Carol C. Lam, the United
States attorney, said in a statement. "He enriched himself through his
position and violated the trust of those who put him there."
Mr. Cunningham's plea adds to the ethics cloud over the Republican-controlled
Congress and the Bush White House.
In the Senate, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee and the majority leader, is
under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission for the timing of his
trades in the stock of his family's health care company. In the House,
Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, was forced to step down as
majority leader after he was indicted on conspiracy and money laundering
charges.
In a separate Justice Department investigation, Michael Scanlon, a former
spokesman for Mr. DeLay, pleaded guilty last week to bribery. Prosecutors
said Mr. Scanlon was part of a conspiracy to defraud Indian tribes and win
legislative favors from lawmakers in return for campaign donations, meals,
entertainment and other benefits. A former White House aide has also been
indicted in that investigation, which is centered on Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist
and an ally of Mr. DeLay who worked with Mr. Scanlon. As part of his plea,
Mr. Scanlon agreed to cooperate in the investigation.
In addition, I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President
Dick Cheney, was indicted last month on charges of perjury and false statements
in the investigation of the leaking of the name of a C.I.A. operative.
Other White House officials, including the senior political adviser Karl Rove,
remain under investigation in that case.
Democrats in Congress hope that the legal and ethical woes afflicting
Republicans will weaken the party in policy debates and at the polls next
November. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic
leader, called Mr. Cunningham's acceptance of bribes an "egregious act" that was
symptomatic of Republican values.
"This offense is just the latest example of the culture of corruption that
pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, which ignores the needs of the
American people to serve wealthy special interests and their cronies," Ms.
Pelosi said in a statement.
The charging document said that in addition to the other gifts and services, Mr.
Cunningham received from several unnamed co-conspirators a Rolls Royce, a
graduation party for his daughter, a $200,000 down payment on a condominium and
the payment of capital gains taxes.
Federal authorities said that Mr. Cunningham was cooperating with the continuing
investigation and that further charges involving the bribery conspiracy were
likely.
Mr. Cunningham entered his plea before Judge Larry A. Burns of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of California. He was
fingerprinted and photographed and released on his own recognizance.
Judge Burns set sentencing for Feb. 27. Mr. Cunningham, in his statement,
said he expected to do time in prison. "In my life, I have known great joy
and great sorrow. And now I know great shame," he said. "I cannot
undo what I have done. But I can atone."
Under California law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has 14 days to call a special
election to fill Mr. Cunningham's seat. The election must occur within 120
days.
Mr. Cunningham's troubles began last summer when the Copley News Service and The
San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Mitchell J. Wade, the founder of MZM Inc.,
a military contracting firm, bought Mr. Cunningham's home in Del Mar for
$1,675,000 in 2003 and sold it nine months later for $975,000, a $700,000 loss.
Mr. Cunningham denied any wrongdoing in the house sale, but announced a few
weeks after the reports appeared that he would not seek a ninth term in Congress
in November 2006.
Mr. Cunningham used the profits from the sale to buy a luxury home in Rancho
Santa Fe for $2.55 million, which he and his wife, Nancy, have since put up for
sale. Under the plea agreement announced on Monday, he will forfeit the
Rancho Santa Fe house and nearly $2 million in cash and home furnishings.
Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington for this
article.
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