Goode still subject of MZM investigation.
The story of MZM, Inc. and Rep. Virgil Goode continues to unfold. From today’s San Diego Union-Tribune:
Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee, has been another target of Wade’s political contributions. MZM has given $87,476 to Goode, mostly in the form of individual contributions from employees.Goode was instrumental in getting funding beginning this year for a new program awarded to MZM – the Foreign Supplier Assessment Center.
The program, created to monitor the participation of foreign companies in U.S. defense programs, is based in Martinsville, Va., which is in Goode’s district. When MZM increased its presence there, Goode touted the jobs the move would bring to the rural community in southern Virginia.
Goode grew testy in an interview when asked why he sought the provision even though the Pentagon didn’t want it.
“I’ve probably put in 30 or 35 requests over the last five or six years,” he said, including some affecting other agencies. “And the Defense Department hasn’t come by on a single one and asked me to put it in.”
In March, Wade hosted a fundraiser for Goode at MZM’s headquarters. Employees queued up to hand over more than $50,000 in contributions.
“It was just like any other fundraiser,” Goode said. “Stuff to eat, stuff to drink. They had hors d’oeuvres. I made a talk about the importance of our military and having them supplied with good information. It was a pro-defense talk.”
Asked if he thought Wade intended the contributions as a reward for Goode’s support in pushing through the Foreign Supplier Assessment Center over Pentagon objections, Goode said, “I can’t read his mind. But my support for MZM stems from the fact that they had a large presence in the district.”
That’s a hell of a defense from Rep. Goode: I act against the nation’s best military interests all the time! Nothing new here! If that came out in a major newspaper, I’d be “testy” too, I guess.