White House deals with Cunnningham co-conspirator questioned

[sabra]

Source: NCTimes

NORTH COUNTY ---- A House committee chairman is asking the White House for details of its dealings with a convicted co-conspirator of former North County lawmaker Randy Cunningham.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has asked the White House to provide his committee details of its contacts with the defunct defense firm MZM Inc.

The firm's founder, Mitchell Wade, in early 2006 pleaded guilty in federal court to having plied Cunningham with more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for government business.

...

Waxman released a letter he wrote to White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton, wherein Waxman asserted that in July 2002, MZM received a White House contract. The $140,000 contract called for providing computers and furniture for Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

...

In the letter, Waxman asked the White House to provide the documents to the committee by April 6, including...

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/29/news/top_stories/2_85_123_28_07.txt

[Bandit]

1. $140,000 no-bid contract awarded and Duke gets a $140,000 new boat

immediately after paid for by the guy that got the no-bid contract...Nothing new here move on....

[yellowcanine]

2. Keep pulling that string Henry. The whole damn mess will unravel. Also keep pulling the "voter

fraud" string. The one exception to the president's right to fire U.S. Attorney's is interfering in the legal process for political reasons. That includes prosecuting cases OR deciding not to prosecute cases.

[IWantAChange]

3. Rep Waxman just keeps the ball moving down the field....

slow and steady and with constant pressure - gotta love it.

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!!

Let's see those receipts and inventory numbers! Yes!!!

[maddezmom]

5. Waxman and others are really taking care of business

Thank god for OVERSIGHT.

[aquart]

6. Six years of eating dirt.

Waxman took over that gavel knowing exactly what he was going to do.

[calimary]

8. He may be kinda rumpled-looking, but to me, he looks like Hugh

Jackman and David Beckham all rolled into one. Sigh...

:loveya: Henry!

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have that kind of representation. Makes me PROUD!!! He's doing what, I think, MOST of US here on DU would be doing if we were in Congress.

[maddezmom]

9. I'm with you

I'm loving the 2 bald guys, Waxman and Leahy! Not to be petty, but how many of ours vs theirs have comeovers?

[tanyev]

12. Or very sad rugs?

[MayorCandidate08]

7. Wax on Wax off Mr. Waxman

Go get'em Sir.

[calimary]

15. Welcome to DU!

From a VERY devoted Waxman woman!

[EVDebs]

10. The entire 'Octopus' CIA/GOP moneytree stems from this example of corruption

[robinlynne]

11. oh yes! right on!

[UpInArms]

13. MZM had $163 million in gov't contracts

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/cunningham/20051130-9999-1n30duke.html

Mitchell Wade, who founded the Washington, D.C., defense firm MZM Inc. and bought Cunningham's house for $1.675 million in November 2003, then sold it at a $700,000 loss nearly a year later. MZM collected $163 million in government work in the past three years.

Brent Wilkes, founder of Poway-based ADCS Inc., which Cunningham backed as early as 1997. Wilkes' company has landed more than $80 million in federal contracts since 1996.

Thomas Kontogiannis, a Long Island developer convicted in a New York schools bribery scandal in 2002 who sought Cunningham's help in seeking a presidential pardon. Ultimately, Kontogiannis decided not to pursue a pardon.

[donkeyotay]

14. do you know what's become of the investigation? I thought I read that

Lam's records had been turned over to congress. That seems quite odd. Who has them and what are they going to do to pursue further congressional corruption?

from the link:

Cunningham's cooperation in the investigation would need to be substantial in order for prosecutors to recommend that federal Judge Larry Alan Burns sentence him Feb. 27 to less than the 10 years he faces, Grimes said. With good behavior, Cunningham can reduce whatever sentence he gets by 15 percent.

"It cannot be simply telling them things they already know," Grimes said.

The plea agreement indicates that Cunningham already has begun talking, said Douglas McNabb, a criminal defense lawyer in Houston who has represented public officials accused of corruption.

"What this says to me is that he decided pretty quickly that he wanted to cooperate," McNabb said. "This guy, in my view, has had multiple debriefings with the government and they have found him, in their view, to be very credible and very helpful. This case is not ending here."

[grannylib]

16. Go, Henry, Go!!! Bring these shameless thieves DOWN.