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themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2569
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 2:37 pm: | 
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"Having admitted unparalleled corruption, defendant Randall H. Cunningham now comes before the Court to be sentenced for his stunning betrayal of the public trust."
That's the first sentence of the 35 page sentencing memorandum federal prosecutors presented to U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns in the Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham case. They want Duke to serve the max -- 10 years in prison.
It's the most detailed and eye-popping recounting of Cunningham's various bad acts, bribes and shenanigans yet.
And we just posted the whole thing at the TPM Document Collection.
A few highlights, for lack of a better word ...
Page 6, item b. Duke's staffer catches Duke buying a Suburban at under market value from Mitchell Wade. Duke tells staffer to "Stay the f--- out of my personal business." "In an attempt to right, and conceal, this obviously corrupt transaction" Duke's staffers falisfy his DMV application and try to get him to pay up to make up the difference. Duke passes on the opportunity.
Page 9, item i. We learn about the roots of the GOP contempt for the capital gains tax. Duke asks for special bribe earmarked for payment of capital gains taxes on sale of house.
Page 12, item a. Duke shares ride back from the antique store bribery junket with Mitchell Wade, expresses "his appreciation for [Wade's] willingness to bribe him" and tells Wade he'll make him "somebody".
Page 15, item e. Duke demands that Mitchell Wade buy him a used Rolls Royce. Duke then has Wade pay thousands to restore the car. Duke then engineers bogus paper 'sale' of the car to Wade to pocket still more money. Cunningham retains ownership of car.
Page 16, item f. Duke arranges to purchase the yacht 'Buoy Toy' from gay couple with his "business partner" Mitchell Wade. Duke then renames boat the 'Duke Stir'. When explaining his reasons for changing the yacht's name, Duke quips, "I bought the boat, not the lifestyle."
Page 19. Unnamed Duke staffer confronts Duke over millions of dollars in bribes he has accepted, asks Duke to either resign or not seek reelection. Duke thinks it over, decides he'll stay in Congress. Staffer resigns.
Page 20, item a, following. Duke embarks on reign of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
www.talkingpointsmemo.com |
slipknot (slippy)
Citizen
Username: Zotts
Post Number: 256
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 2:48 pm: |
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GOP SOP |
Scrotis Lo Knows
Citizen
Username: Scrotisloknows
Post Number: 763
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 2:58 pm: |
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Yup, only Republican politicans are corrupt.
God I love the liberal logic, or lack thereof...  |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4377
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 3:59 pm: |
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So show me something like this going on on the Democratic side of the aisle right now.
<tick>
<tick>
<tick> |
Guy
Supporter
Username: Vandalay
Post Number: 1547
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 4:11 pm: |
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OK , if you insist.
Around Washington, Rep. William J. Jefferson nurtured a reputation as a serious, even wonkish, lawmaker, a grade-school dropouts' son who graduated from Harvard Law School and was elected Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction.
Then came the allegations last August that Jefferson had orchestrated a corruption scheme. Federal investigators are targeting the Democratic congressman, 58, for allegedly demanding cash and other favors for himself and relatives, in exchange for using his congressional clout to arrange African business deals. A former aide recently pleaded guilty to bribing Jefferson and is cooperating with authorities, and sources familiar with the case say a plea agreement with the lawmaker is being explored.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502752. html |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4379
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 4:19 pm: |
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The prosecution's sentencing memorandum included a copy of a “bribe menu” written under the Congressional seal on Cunningham's office stationary. One column of figures represented the millions of dollars in contracts that could be “ordered” from Cunningham, according to prosecutors. The right column showed the amount of bribes Cunningham demanded in return.
According to the sentencing memorandum, Cunningham offered co-conspirator No. 2 – identified elsewhere as defense contractor Mitchell Wade – $16 million in contracts in exchange for a $140,000 bribe, which came in the form a 42-foot yacht, the Duke-Stir. |
anon
Supporter
Username: Anon
Post Number: 2604
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 4:25 pm: |
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Corruption of this nature knows no political ideology nor party. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4380
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 4:27 pm: |
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Jefferson's a bad guy, but he's a piker compared to Cunningham.
"...demands that a defense contractor pay defendant's cross-country moving expenses and additional cash bribes so the defendant could comfortably pay capital gains tax on a prior bribe conveyed through a housing transaction ... and thetruly astonishing ($500,000 divided into two checks from one defense contractor, and a $525,000 wire transfer from a second defense contractor). "
And there's three whole pages just on falsifying evidence and witness tampering. |
Threeringale
Citizen
Username: Threeringale
Post Number: 40
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 9:01 am: |
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Repubs are more corrupt than Dems. Or vice versa? What of it? We practically live at the ground zero of corruption, i.e. Essex County (Tom D'Allesio, Jim Treffinger, Sharpe James, UMDNJ), New Jersey (Harrison Williams, Bob Torricelli, Robert Janiszwesky, Nidia Colon, Jim McGreevey, Bob Menendez, Jon Corzine, Schools Construction Corp.). I think I omitted another Essex Republican, but the name escapes me.
I don't always agree with Gore Vidal, but one thing I respect about him is that he does not draw a sharp line between the parties. Likewise the director of the new film Why We Fight. I would strongly recommend that everyone on MOL see this movie. It is much better than last year's effort by the slovenly, buffoonish Michael Moore.
Cheers
Cheers |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5208
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 9:23 am: |
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tom looks to be OK with with a little corruption so long as the larger abuses occur in the Republican party. It's a position that Democrats are trying to employ with Abramoff. So any Republican that received less than Harry Reid's $68K is off tom's hook. |
notehead
Supporter
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 3053
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 10:54 am: |
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Cjc, let's say you're a cop and there are two criminals in front of you. One is a serial rapist and murderer, the other stole a car. You can only arrest one. Which do you choose, or does it not matter? |
Paris Hiltonberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 6808
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 11:22 am: |
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Notehead and Tom say it's ok to be a crook as long as you're not really, really a crook..
Libs today.  |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2571
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 11:33 am: |
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Check this out. Yes Jefferson is on it. He is headed for jail, but scroll through the whole thing. Pretty shameful.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/grandolddocket.php |
anon
Supporter
Username: Anon
Post Number: 2615
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 2:13 pm: |
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We practically live at the ground zero of corruption, i.e. Essex County
A lot of people say things like that, but if we livedanywhere else we could probably name just as many corrupt politicians. I mean the Governor of Connecticut went to jail and the Governor of Ohio pleaded guilty to a crime and, I think, was put on Probation.
Remind me who Nidia Colon is. When was Jon Corzine indicted or even accused of anything? McGreevey resigned because of a sexual affair. Harrison Williams was a long time ago.
Essex County is the home of former Governor Tom Kean, respected by everyone. Brendon Byrne was "the man who couldn't be bought". Bill Bradley was one of the most respected members of the Senate, across party lines.
People think it's fun to dump on New Jersey but it's no worse than lots of other places and a damn cite better than many. |
Threeringale
Citizen
Username: Threeringale
Post Number: 41
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 4:28 pm: |
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Anon,
Don't get me wrong, I am born and raised in NJ and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. We are not the only state with corruption problems, but I think we rank pretty high.
Nidia Colon was a Hudson county freeholder convicted of being a bag-man (bag-person?) for passing envelopes to County Executive Robert Janiszweski. The money was from her boy friend who had won some nice contracts from the county.
I just threw in Corzine because he spent 30 years on Wall Street and walked away with $400 million. He must have some dirt under his fingernails. Or does he get a pass because he's a Democrat? McGreevey surrounded himself with rascals and I don't know if we'll ever know all the details about his coded reference to Machiavelli in Piscataway. I agree with you about Kean and Byrne. Bradley was indeed one of our most respected Senators. For a while I thought he had changed his first name to "Cerebral". I think he is now working for some international financial outfit. Presumably, they did not hire him to give basketball clinics to underprivileged kids. At least he had the decency to leave office before cashing in on his connections.
Viva New Jersey!
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tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4383
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 9:14 pm: |
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Jefferson and his indicted aide are toast, and rightfully so. But corruption on the Dem side is nothing compared to what the GOP's got going.
The GOP won the House in '94 in part by painting the House Bank as a strictly Democratic problem, and by harassing Jim Wright over his book deal, in which he gained a positively quaint $55,000. (Yes, that's fifty-five thousand dollars, I didn't accidentally leave off any zeroes.)
So we're going to keep jumping ugly on the Republicans not just for being crooks, but for posing as reformers.
Threeringdale, as for Corzine's money: a lot of people get very rich on Wall Street legally. It's one of the most highly regulated businesses in America and there's no shortage of people willing to drop a dime to the SEC if you rip them off. |
GOP Man
Citizen
Username: Headsup
Post Number: 283
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 10:00 pm: |
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you all act like DeLay was making money for himself. there is no proof of that. all the money he got was then used to further stregthen the Republican party. I for one applaud DeLay's ingenuity in using his position to advance the party. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I don't mind a little corruption as long as no one benefits personally. that's why Democratic corruption is worse. it's penny ante stuff that goes straight into their own pockets. DeLay was thinking big, and thinking of the party, and I like that. |
Threeringale
Citizen
Username: Threeringale
Post Number: 42
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 9:14 am: |
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Tom,
I don't really have a problem with seeing both parties as corrupt. Politicians are politicians. The GOP might be in the lead for now since they control congress. When the Dems had it for 40 years, they cleaned up. If memory serves, the House banking scandal was a bi-partisan affair, no? I think it was Solzhenitsyn who said that the line between good and evil passes through the heart, not through party or class. Or something like that. So I would not demonize someone solely on the basis of party politics. There are a couple of Dems and Repubs that I respect.
I know that the SEC watches Wall Street, but who would claim that they are infallible? Maybe Corzine did come by his money honestly, though. I think that he did show poor judgment when he gave the $470k gift to his ex-girlfriend, who is head of the state CWA. Legal? I suppose so, but there is an odor about it.
Can we at least agree that politicians (of any party) who break the law and abuse their office should be impeached, tried, removed from office, etc.?
Cheers |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5209
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 3:50 pm: |
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Someone from New Jersey who hasn't tossed aside corrupt politicians in their own state now whining about Republicans being corrupt while turning a blind eye to Democrats at the national level can't be taken seriously.
McGreevey got in trouble for an affair? It's a bit more complicated than that. As was "Clinton just lied about a BJ." Before you can fix yourselves, you have to honestly address what it is that ails you.
I realize this 'culture of corruption' is all you have because your party doesn't have an idea, but it's not going to get you anywhere because you're totally unbelievable when you're making the case, much less sincere given your past voting patterns.
Get an idea, sell it and run on it. Let the courts do as they will and not tie your fortunes to things you have no control over. |
drewdix
Citizen
Username: Drewdix
Post Number: 1128
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 8:08 pm: |
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!!!!!!!! |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2572
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 10:09 am: |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/20/international/i21051 6S41.DTL
More stuff. There was an idea, born of an ideological contempt for the ability of government, to replace government with a complex of lobbyists, "grassroots" outlets, and party-obedient politicians. The republican scandal is different than mere money grubbing. It is huge. I have been following the K street project for a while, and I always hoped the boil would get lanced some day. It has, but the patient isn't out of danger yet by a long shot. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5239
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 11:41 am: |
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More stuff:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles_print.php?article_id=5278
Dean’s Abramoff Tie
February 24th, 2006
Before Howard Dean huffed recently that “not one dime of Jack Abramoff’s money ever went to any Democrat,” he should have checked his own pockets.
By only the most Clintonesque parsing of words can Dean’s statement be considered passably accurate. And in a very real sense, he need look no further than his own failed presidential campaign’s accounts to see how funds tainted from Abramoff’s tribal lobbying dealings ended up in Democrats’ hands.
Even the Washington Post has admitted that Abramoff did not work in a vacuum on the controversial Indian tribal accounts. The Post went so far as to publish a chart of what it called the “A Team.”
Among the recipients of campaign contributions from A Team members: Howard Dean.
FEC contribution number 23991382452 lists a $1,000 donation to Dean by Greenberg Traurig lobbyist Ronald Platt, a member of the Post’s A Team, on June 30, 2003. At that time, lobbyist disclosure forms show Platt as working with Abramoff on two of the controversial tribal accounts: the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana , and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana . The forms show that Platt worked on a third controversial tribal account, the Sandia Pueblo, with other A Team members but not Abramoff.
Platt was far from alone as an A Team member who gave to Democrats. An in-depth review of campaign contributions made by Abramoff’s team of lobbyists shows that Democrats may actually have benefitted more than Republicans from their political donations.
The first thing that is striking upon review of the A Team political donations is how each individual lobbyist donated exclusively to only one political party. The second thing that one notices is how similar the total amounts are. From January, 2001 through March, 2004 – the time period that reports place Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig – seven of the 22 lobbyists that the Post cites as comprising the A Team donated $265,203 exclusively to Democrats (excluding a small amount to Greenberg Traurig’s in-house political action committee), while nine team members – including Abramoff – contributed $255,315 to Republicans. Federal records show no political contributions from six of the team’s lobbyists. (A quick editorial comment: Most reports about Abramoff’s political donations include contributions made by his wife, Pamela. Her donations to Republicans during this period totaled $29,000. They are not included in totals used in this report because contributions from spouses or family members of other A Team lobbyists could not be verified with certainty. They also are likely to be substantial as some are also in political and/or lobbying positions.)
The numbers are so close, that one can’t help but speculate that it could well be the result of forethought, a concerted effort to spread influence in both parties.
Among the Democratic recipients of A Team donations: the aforementioned Dr. Dean, Democrat Senators Clinton, Kerry, Daschle, Boxer, Baucus, Bayh, Breaux, Cantwell, Carnahan, Cleland, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Feingold, Harkin, Hollings, Johnson (Tim), Landrieu, Leahy, Lieberman, Lincoln, Mikulski, Murray, Nelson, Pryor, Reed, Rockefeller, and Torricelli – who left the Senate in disgrace under the cloud of his own campaign finance scandal – as well as the Democratic Senate Majority Fund, a plethora of Democratic congressmen, and PAC’s that distributed funds across the Democratic Party landscape.
Additionally, one of the A Team members, Michael D. Smith, had his own political action committee. Smith, a former official in Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, distributed $168,000 to Democratic candidates through his Winning Margins PAC from 2001-2004, the closest reporting period to the time Abramoff was at Greenberg Traurig, according to federal records.
Disregarding the PAC money, Smith’s personal donations to Democrats almost offset Abramoff’s contributions to Republicans. F.E.C. records show that Smith donated $117,417 to Democrats or to his–or the firm’s–PAC from January, 2001 through March, 2004. Abramoff gave $127,080 to Republicans during the same period.
Don’t expect to hear much about this in the traditional media.
For one thing, most journalists loathe lobsters.
No, not the succulent crustaceans served with melted butter. “Lobsters” is the pejorative term many reporters use for lobbyists.
(It is somewhat ironic that in an industry that–as a whole–decries anyone else’s use of such epithets, the use of them is fairly common. Public relations professionals are flacks. Lobbyists are lobsters.)
To the media elite, “lobsters” represent the antithesis of all they consider good. Journalists want openness–sunshine–in government. Lobbyists work behind the scenes out of the public view. Journalists like to believe they look out for the interests of the average guy. Lobbyists, they see as working only for moneyed special interests.
There is only one other group of people that draws the media’s venom as much as lobsters do. Journalists have a derogatory name for these people, too. They call them … Republicans. |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2590
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 12:11 pm: |
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Nice crybaby tone in the last para. Why does he use the Post's "A Team" phrase without really explaining it?
"...two of the controversial tribal accounts: the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana , and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana . The forms show that Platt worked on a third controversial tribal account, the Sandia Pueblo, with other A Team members but not Abramoff."
The accounts are controversial largely because criminal Abramoff was defrauding the tribes. Has Ronal Platt defrauded anyone? This is just a confusing effort to muddy the water.
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cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5240
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 12:29 pm: |
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themp -- the Coushattas were one of the tribes that hadn't donated to Harry Reid and Democrats until Abramoff came onto the scene. This is the same money Reid refuses to return, while others like Byron Dorgan have.
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themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2591
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 12:38 pm: |
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Lets hold off judgement until all the indictments are done (if ever). |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5241
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 12:47 pm: |
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Yeah, OK. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4408
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 1:16 pm: |
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Greenberg Traurig has 1500 employees in at least 32 offices, and Abramoff was just one of them. He certainly wasn't running the place, and as far as I can tell the firm itself isn't in any legal trouble. As a lobbying firm their smart clients would insist they work with both sides of the aisle.
No one in business advocacy (as opposed to issue groups) limits themselves to one party. They are trying to advance specific tax, legal and regulatory policies, the great majority of which cut across party lines. This includes Indian tribes.
So this is just guilt-by-association twice removed: politician X received money from Y, who was employed by the same large multinational firm as Z, therefore X is in bed with Z? Possible, but not necessarily. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5242
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 1:26 pm: |
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Interesting. That would apply to both sides of the aisle and that, barring a conviction for fraud and bribery, that it's quilt by association when some screeching Minority Leader throws about words like 'Culture of Corruption' to label an entire party while conveniently leaving out her own. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4410
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 1:35 pm: |
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"Screeching," like "shrill," is one of those lovely terms that are only applied to powerful women. |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2592
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 2:25 pm: |
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Uh-oh, CJC, I think it just got worse since Wade plead guilty this morning. By his own admission:
"Wade was able to exploit the [defense] procurement system in three distinct ways: by bribing a sitting United States Congressman; by conspiring to give favors to Department of Defense officials responsible for procuring services from Wade's company; and by funneling illegal campaign contributions to two Members of Congress." |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5244
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 2:41 pm: |
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Refresh my memory, did Wade work for William Jefferson, D-LA?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502752. html
Cunningham on one side, Jefferson on the other. |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2594
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 3:01 pm: |
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Did he work for Jefferson? I don't get it.
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themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2596
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 5:10 pm: |
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MZM Inc
PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates
2004 Cycle
House Candidate Total Contribs Cunningham, Randy "Duke" (R-CA) $6,000
Forbes, J Randy (R-VA) $5,000
Goode, Virgil H Jr (R-VA) $10,000
Harris, Katherine (R-FL) $10,000
Hunter, Duncan (R-CA) $1,000
Renzi, Rick (R-AZ) $2,000
Total to Democratic House Candidates: $0
Total to Republican House Candidates: $34,000 |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5247
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 6:54 pm: |
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themp -- if you can hang on to your examples and try to make sure no one sees the other side of the corruption ledger, you can perhaps expand the relative few individuals that will fall to the entirety of Republicans and indict the entire party. The problem is The Big 3 and the DC-Boston corridor aren't the only media outlets anymore. They'll try and help you out, but the effort won't succeed. Facts will find a way of getting out. |
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