Posted on 09/17/2007 10:34:27 PM PDT by RWR8189
More than a dozen House members from both parties have been served with subpoenas in the case of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who is facing charges stemming from the bribery conviction of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.
The 13 lawmakers have joined forces behind the scenes to try to fight the wave of subpoenas they have received in recent days from an attorney for Wilkes.
A source familiar with discussions among the lawmakers and lawyers said they were organizing the joint effort on grounds that the subpoenas are overly broad requests for testimony and documents. Mark Geragos, Wilkes’ lawyer, has asked all of them for information related to Wilkes’ trial.
Five of the 13 lawmakers received subpoenas for both documents and testimony: Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo.; Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas; Duncan Hunter of California, ranking Republican on Armed Services; Defense Appropriations Chairman John P. Murtha, D-Pa.; and Jerry Lewis of California, ranking Republican on Appropriations.
The other lawmakers all received subpoenas that requested only testimony. They included Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.; Michigan Republicans Joe Knollenberg and Intelligence ranking member Peter Hoekstra; California Republicans Darrell Issa and John T. Doolittle; Jerry Weller, R-Ill; and Interior-Environment Appropriations Chairman Norm Dicks, D-Wash.
“They intend to fight the subpoenas,’’ the source said. “As we understand it, Wilkes’ lawyer is also trying to subpoena other government officials. The subpoenas say very little about what they are after.”
In floor statements posted late Monday, each of the lawmakers said that “after consultation with the Office of General Counsel” they “determined that compliance . . . is inconsistent with precedents and privileges of the House.”
Cunningham, R-Calif. (1991-2005), was sentenced to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting more than $2 million in bribes and helping Wilkes and another contractor secure federal business.
What the eff?
“In floor statements posted late Monday, each of the lawmakers said that “after consultation with the Office of General Counsel” they “determined that compliance . . . is inconsistent with precedents and privileges of the House”
I don’t think so
birds of a feather
Five of the 13 lawmakers received subpoenas for both documents and testimony: Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo.; Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas; Duncan Hunter of California, ranking Republican on Armed Services; Defense Appropriations Chairman John P. Murtha, D-Pa.; and Jerry Lewis of California, ranking Republican on Appropriations.
The other lawmakers all received subpoenas that requested only testimony. They included Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.; Michigan Republicans Joe Knollenberg and Intelligence ranking member Peter Hoekstra; California Republicans Darrell Issa and John T. Doolittle; Jerry Weller, R-Ill; and Interior-Environment Appropriations Chairman Norm Dicks, D-Wash.
Politically motivated timing? Sad to see Hunter in the list, hope he clears this up quickly.
ping
“after consultation with the Office of General Counsel” they “determined that compliance . . . is inconsistent with precedents and privileges of the House.”
I don’t remember these being concerned with the inconsistencies with precedents and privileges of the White House. Ah..They sure as hell were not concerned then, they wanted a lynch mob for AG Gonzales and access to every memo and scribbling and thought then.
I think we will all look back at this and see it the singular event that stopped the Hunter train from locking up the nomination...
"...[edit] Cunningham/Wilkes Congressman Hunter has not been implicated in the Duke Cunningham/Brent Wilkes congressional bribery scandal. Although Hunter and Cunningham both served in Vietnam and as San Diego Congressmen, Hunter has never excused or condoned the actions of his friend. “Congressman Hunter does not condone Mr. Cunningham’s actions, nor has he tried to defend them…Congressman Hunter is a close friend of Mr. Cunningham’s, and friends don’t abandon each other during times of difficulty,” said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper.
It has been suggested that Hunter had ties to ADCS and Brent Wilkes (who was indicted and charged with bribery of a public official in February 2007), but although Hunter and Cunningham were both advocates of the type of automated document conversion technology supplied by ADCS (which customized a German system), Hunter remained an advocate the American-made product of Tom Casey's Audre. Hunter asked the Pentagon’s chief purchasing officer to "whenever possible, use [document conversion] products that are made in the United States by American taxpayers." In 1992, Brent Wilkes was a political consultant for Audre Inc, a firm based in Rancho Bernardo and headed by Tom Casey, which specialized in automated document conversion systems. At that time, Congressman Hunter recognized Wilkes and Casey as two “aggressive and enthusiastic promoters of a breakthrough technology.” Congress created a program for the new technology, and Audre won $12.5 million of the $190 million that was allocated for contracts between 1993 and 2001.
In 1994, Brent Wilkes quit Audre and launched ADCS Inc., which customized a German document conversion system, to compete against Audre and two-dozen other software firms for government contracts. Hunter continued to back Audre’s American-made product. Wilkes and ADCS started donating money to Cunningham.
Between 1995 and 2005, Wilkes and his associates gave $71,500 to Cunningham's campaign and political action committee. ADCS, in turn, received upwards of $95 million in government contracts.
In November, 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion, and receiving more than $2.4 million in bribes.
In February 2007, Wilkes was indicted and charged with bribery of a public official.
In December of 2005, Hunter directed that the contributions his campaign received from Wilkes and Wade be given to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. "We had options," said Bruce Young, treasurer for Hunter's re-election campaign. "We could keep the money, send it back, send it to the government or send it to a charity. We just felt that because of the situation, we would rather not have the money." More than 100 members of the House and Senate – Republicans and Democrats – accepted money from ADCS Inc. owner Brent Wilkes, former MZM Inc. president Mitchell Wade, their relatives, employees or political action committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group..".
Mark Gerragos is a fool.
Sounds like he's trying to "brush back" the Feds by implicating a bunch of lawmakers (from both parties, no less). He's out of his league if he thinks that Justice Department professionals will drop the case just because his client may want to take a Jack Murtha down with him, but that's Geragos for you.
...clusterf**k the public together (especially if in Congress)
Since Duncan Hunter’s subpoena is that favorite post of the day on the threads, let’s bump this coverage up again.
The subpoena being issued violated house rules. House rules forbid members from testifying in judicial proceedings unless their testimony is “material and relevant.”
Duncan Hunter had no material or relevant connection.
This is just more Mark Garagos grandstanding just like he did in the Scott Peterson case. Wilkes had closer connections with the white house than he ever had with Hunter.
Cunningham got in trouble because of gifts and bribes, he broke the law. Legit campaign donations aren’t against the law. How hard is this to understand? Hunter has been cleared of all question about any illegality and DOES not accept ‘gifts’. He does no personal business with any of his campaign contributors. So, stop with this silliness.BTW, the LEGAL contributions to Hunter by Wilkes was given to Charity.
” * In February 2007, Wilkes was indicted and charged with bribery of a public official.
In December of 2005, Hunter directed that the contributions his campaign received from Wilkes and Wade be given to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. [32] “We had options,” said Bruce Young, treasurer for Hunter’s re-election campaign. “We could keep the money, send it back, send it to the government or send it to a charity. We just felt that because of the situation, we would rather not have the money.” [33]More than 100 members of the House and Senate – Republicans and Democrats – accepted money from ADCS Inc. owner Brent Wilkes, former MZM Inc. president Mitchell Wade, their relatives, employees or political action committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics,”
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pfds.asp?CID=N00006983
Tell that to nutbag.
bttt
He has been told by at least 5 different posters I can think of off hand. His mission is to spread propaganda. He doesn’t listen to a thing.
It’s a she.
::shrugs:: He, she, it.
“::shrugs:: He, she, it.”
Exactly. I had one today that insists Hunter wants state imposed religion in schools! Of course, his legislation stated just the opposite, but facts don’t matter.
Hunters position and legislation: 2001), H.J.RES.66 (1999), S.J.RES. 1, H.J.RES.12, H. J. RES. 108, & H. J. RES. 55: Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions. No person shall be required by the United States or by any State to participate in prayer . Neither the United States nor any State shall compose the words of any prayer to be said in public schools.
H. J. RES. 78 (1997): To secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: Neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion, but the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. Neither the United States nor any State shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribe school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.