Posted on 10/07/2006 8:10:49 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO - Disgraced former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham lashed out at the reporter who uncovered the corruption scandal that sent him to prison, telling him in a letter that his "constant cruelty" had nearly destroyed Cunningham's life.
The former Navy "Top Gun" pilot also blasted defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who helped implicate him to authorities.
"Wade is the absolute devil," Cunningham wrote in the four-page, handwritten letter, excerpts of which were published Saturday on the San Diego Union-Tribune's Web site.
Wade has pleaded guilty to giving Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes and is awaiting sentencing. His lawyer said he would have no comment on the letter.
Marcus Stern, the Copley News Service reporter who broke the news last year of Cunningham's corruption, said he didn't take the former congressman's remarks personally.
"I just felt this was a guy in anguish," Stern told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Stern said he wrote to Cunningham in early September, requesting an interview. The Union-Tribune said Cunningham's letter was dated Sept. 15.
"I hurt more than anyone could imagine and without my faith your constant cruelty would destroy me," Cunningham wrote.
The Republican, who held seats on powerful House intelligence and appropriations committees, admitted last November that he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts and other favors.
Among other things, Wade said he gave Cunningham expensive rugs, furniture and jewelry, as well as cash, in exchange for support for his company's efforts to win defense contracts.
"I should have said no to the gifts. For that, I am truly sorry," Cunningham wrote.
Cunningham was sentenced in March to more than eight years in federal prison and is being housed at a low-security correctional center in North Carolina.
"Each time you print it hurts my family and now I have lost them along with everything I have worked for during my 64 years of life," Cunningham wrote. "I am human not an animal to keep whipping."
: )
Perhaps you should have told Cunningham to not write the letter--or advise the media to not report it until a month later. Yeah... that would work. /s
As one of his former constituents, I pray for him. I wish he had made different decisions, but I appreciate that he has accepted responsibility for his actions, and I also appreciate his service to our country. He is serving his time, and is paying for his actions with much more than that.
AP Translation: "Remember voters, Republicans are corrupt mofos. Vote for Dems, you can identify them by the halos over their heads."
$26,000 a month?
They had already published one story about his wife.
Pasadena, Ca.
Yes, for over 5 years. Think she is alone? She just got caught.
Maria Garcia Perez
Maria Perez Garcia.....ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
Meanwhile, the crook William Jefferson (DEMOCRAT-LA) is cooling his heals without a worry in the world. DemocRATS are above the law donja know.
Gotcha. Multiple IDs.
I only asked because that sounded like an extraordinary amount for one individual.
As a former constituent of this pompous, greedy SOB I say this: go away. Your whining will garner no favor here.
I am angry at Duke for his conduct and do not have much pity at all for him. As an Officer he has a much higher calling than most and as a Congressman after his military service we were all COUNTING on that for a deliverance from the evil he is clearly guilty of.
I am at a senior service school where he was idolized by many past classes who had him come to speak to us on his exploits as a pilot and his efforts in congress. That has all been trashed now, and done so by Randy Cunningham himself.
He could have avoided all this pain, now, he is but an example of what NOT to do.
I hate to think how much money he would have taken in bribes if he had not been such a man of faith.
I'll leave it to psychologists to understand and categorize Cunningham's bizarre letter as I, and I hope others, deeply regret his weaknesses as a civilian and terrible fall from grace.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Wasn't CREW (and gang going after Foley/Hastert/Republicans) involved in going after Duke Cunningham? They were, according to numerous FReepers.
CREW is behind the gang going after Republicans for "sheltering" gays, and using flimsy, faudulent docs to do so, AND encouraging she said/he said arguments for the MSM to feed upon. Now other pages are "claiming" they TOO, were "molested". I don't believe a word of crap coming from the mouths playing the "ME TOO" game.
I would suspect so,, their last paragraph on the
About us page sums it up. They do the 'dirty work', they see themselves as a niche player.. ie, a dirty player.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/about/background.php
Americans have a long and storied history of using the justice system to make sure our nation lives up to its full promise. For over 200 years, Americans have utilized the rule of law to bring about constructive social change. The civil rights movement is perhaps the most famous example, but there are many more on all sides of the political spectrum such as the environment, corporate responsibility and religious freedom, among others.
These movements created a powerful strategy for helping America to evolve: leveraging the law. This approach starts with real people - people whose true-life stories illustrate an injustice which, if addressed, may strengthen our nation's system of justice. Individuals who have suffered injustice can bring their cases to court with the help and support of committed citizens' groups. As cases stemming from a particular issue accumulate, they begin to have a powerful macroscopic effect on society. Litigation serves to draw attention and financial support for issues, and it can change public opinion and public policy. This is true even if litigants do not win their cases. Historically, however, because Americans deeply believe in the idea of justice for all, over time, litigation brings positive results.
In the 1990s, this litigation strategy was applied to a new area: government integrity. Since the 1970's, citizens' groups have been increasingly active in government investigations ranging from Watergate to Iran-Contra to the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill matter. But it was not until the 1990's that some watchdog groups hit on the strategy of using private investigation and litigation to parallel and support government investigations. This began with Whitewater, continued through the campaign finance investigations, and culminated in the Paula Jones litigation and the presidential impeachment proceedings. The groups that have pioneered this type of legal advocacy are avowedly conservative: Judicial Watch, the Rutherford Institute, and the National Legal and Policy Center, to name just a few.
Conservative groups such as these have no real parallel in the progressive arena. There are a number of non-partisan groups that address government honesty, including Common Cause, Public Citizen, the Center for Public Integrity, and Democracy 21. While we applaud their efforts, we have noted that these groups focus principally on research and legislation. They do not use litigation to target outrageous conduct, nor do they bring the message of injustice to the people the way their conservative counterparts do. Because these public interest organizations focus mostly on policy issues and not on obstacles faced by ordinary citizens, these groups have not mobilized a shift in public opinion on the issue of government honesty. CREW fills that niche.
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