Good old Duke....
______________________
Congress aides ignored bribery signs: report By Andy Sullivan
Tue Oct 17, 3:26 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional aides ignored numerous warning signs about disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's cozy relationship with contractors who paid him millions in bribes, a report released on Tuesday said.
The report by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee found no evidence that staffers benefited from any of the bribes taken by Cunningham, the California Republican now serving an eight-year prison term after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes.
But staffers ignored several warning signs as they helped Cunningham obtain funding for a project earmarked for MZM, a company run by Mitchell Wade, who has pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham.
"Over time, (committee) staff learned of numerous 'red flags' associated with the counterintelligence project, including frequently expressed questions about the ethics and integrity of Wade, doubts about the value of the project and MZM's performance, and grave concerns about the propriety of the Cunningham-Wade relationship," the report said.
Committee staff helped Cunningham avoid competitive bidding rules to steer at least $70 million to Wade and another contractor, the report said.
The outside investigator who wrote the report for the committee said the Defense Department and the House Appropriations Committee have so far declined to cooperate.
The report was completed in May but has been kept under wraps while committee members argued whether Cunningham should be subpoenaed.
It was finally made public by California Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record), the committee's top Democrat, who has pushed for Cunningham to appear before the committee, even if he refuses to testify.
"Our committee must examine why 'red flags' did not trigger greater scrutiny of Cunningham's activities and what can be done to prevent this type of abuse in the future," Harman said in a statement. |
