Published: Jul 1, 2005 SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal agents on Friday searched the California home of U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, along with the yacht in Washington, D.C., where he has been living, the FBI said.
Posted on 07/01/2005 4:23:27 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
FBI Searches Home of California Congressman at Center of Federal Probe
Published: Jul 1, 2005 SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal agents on Friday searched the California home of U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, along with the yacht in Washington, D.C., where he has been living, the FBI said.
Agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the Defense Department's criminal investigative service also searched the Washington offices of a defense firm whose founder bought the congressman's previous home, leading to a federal investigation, said Debra Weierman, a Washington FBI spokeswoman.
Cunningham, 63, has said that he showed poor judgment in selling the house, but he acted honestly and predicted that an investigation would prove that.
On Friday, a Cunningham spokesman said he did not know anything about the raids and referred all inquiries to the congressman's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, who did not immediately return a call for comment.
The former Navy "Top Gun" fighter pilot and eight-term Republican congressman sold his home in November 2003 to Mitchell Wade, a campaign contributor and close friend.
Wade paid $1.7 million for the 3,826-square-foot house in wealthy, seaside Del Mar, just north of San Diego. He put it back on the market soon after and eventually took a $700,000 loss when he resold it in October 2004. During that span, home prices in San Diego County rose an average of nearly 25 percent.
Meanwhile, Wade's little-known company, Washington, D.C.-based MZM Inc., was increasing its federal contracting business. In 2004, MZM tripled its revenue and nearly quadrupled its staff, according to the company's Web site.
Cunningham is a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both of which oversee the kind of classified intelligence work MZM does for the military.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego is investigating the house sale with help from the FBI. Earlier this week, Cunningham's office disclosed that a federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents from him, though they declined to elaborate further.
Cunningham has also lived part-time on Wade's boat, docked on the Potomac River. He has said he agreed to pay dock fees and service and maintenance costs to Wade in lieu of rent to stay there. Living on Wade's boat without paying would violate congressional ethics rules.
The Defense Department halted orders this month on a five-year contract that provided MZM with $163 million of revenue over its first three years after the department's inspector general found that it did not satisfy rules on competitiveness.
This week, MZM announced that James King, a retired three-star Army general, was taking over as president and chief executive - a role held for years by Wade, who founded the company in 1993.
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Associated Press Writers Erica Werner and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
AP-ES-07-01-05 1831EDT
Looks like Duke seriously stepped in it. Too bad. I like the guy, but when someone offers me about twice what my house is worth, I'm going to think about it for a while.
Especially when I know with whom the offerer does business with.
Also, he had to know that that boat cost about a million dollars. Does paying dock fees and maintenance cover the mortgage on the boat? Give me a break.
Only his cron... er ... friends call him "Duke".
Roll him up.
Duke is about to get a congressional sized ZOT!
What are our elected politicians doing with yachts?
Thank God his district is safe.
Guy shot down 3 Migs in one day over Vietnam, was an ace; wish it was some loser congressman insted. Maybe that's why he thought he could get away with it, though.
Duke, I've supported you for years but it's time to pay the piper - resign and fight like hell - but unless this is a fabrication you must step aside.
Read the story. It wasn't his Yacht.
Actually the root of these problems (donning flame-resistant suit) is the low pay of Congressmen. You can't give someone the power over hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts and pay them less than an orthodonist and then be shocked when stuff like this happens.
Cunningham is a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both of which oversee the kind of classified intelligence work MZM does for the military.
Cunningham has also lived part-time on Wade's boat, docked on the Potomac River. He has said he agreed to pay dock fees and service and maintenance costs to Wade in lieu of rent to stay there. Living on Wade's boat without paying would violate congressional ethics rules.
He sells his house to a government contractor, who's business has tripled, and he's staying on this guys yacht?
Incredible.
No, it wasn't. And we know who's yacht it was.
A contributers and someone that does government contract work, who's business has nearly tripled.
Nice arrangement.
Reading this, you have to assume Duke is a Dem?
"Reading this, you have to assume Duke is a Dem?"
Sadly, he is an R.
OOOK.
Believe it or not, I disagree.
The real problem is, is time. These people, both Dems and Reps are spending their entire lives in politics, making very lucrative careers. How many rookie cops ever got bagged for corruption, as opposed to seasoned veterans?
It's no secret, the longer these people are on the public payroll, their chances of becoming corrupted go straight up.
I am not saying this guy is guilty. Lets just say it could look a lot better for him.
Just the links and circumstance alone, reek.
Over and over, on threads about Dem corruption, I read that "If so-and-so had been a Republican, they'd have trumpeted this in the headline!" Well, it doesn't seem to be so...
We need to throw away the keys to the cells of corrupt politicians. Of whatever party.
Nah, they're actually investigating his transgressions. That doesn't sound like something that happens to a Dem.
Either way, if he's on the take, boot his ass out. We can do better.
The article says he took a loss of $700,000 on the house. Where do you come up with the idea that he sold it for twice what it was worth?
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