C-Ville Weekly on Goode, MZM Scandal

The current C-Ville Weekly — one of Charlottesville’s weeklies — has an article by Harry Terris that reviews the ongoing Rep. Virgil Goode / MZM scandal. (FYI, C-Ville Weekly article links, for no reason that’s clear to me, expire after a week.) Terris offers the most comprehensive look at the connections that I’ve seen thus far, though he doesn’t go into Goode’s bogus refunds offer. He got a few quotes from Al Weed, who ran against Rep. Goode in 2004:

Al Weed, Goode’s Democratic challenger in 2004, says he does not think that “Virgil has done anything dishonest.” Still, he characterizes the situation as a result of a lost “ethical compass,” resulting from a sense of entitlement and arrogance rooted in the entrenchment of power.

Generating employment for the district is a chief responsibility for the congressman, Weed says, “but when there’s $50,000 on the table, then you begin to wonder, was he doing it because they were good for the district, or was he doing it because there was $50,000 on the table?”

Weed, who lost decisively in 2004, garnering 36 percent of votes compared to Goode’s 64 percent, says the relationship with MZM clashes with Goode’s “earned” reputation “for being very frugal, for being very straight-laced.”

There is an alternate explanation for Goode’s $101,000 in contributions from MZM employees that, in the interest of fairness, I should explore. MZM was Goode’s #1 contributor, and Goode received more from MZM than anybody else. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, on the other hand, received both a bundle of money and the house, the boat, etc. from MZM. One way to read this is that Goode may well be getting a whole lot of money from MZM under the table through similar deals. Another way to read this is that Goode refused to take money illegally (save for MZM’s coerced employees), and would only take good old-fashioned graft: contributions. Hence the huge amount of money that MZM gave him.

I don’t know which is true. But if newspapers continue to look into this, we may find out.

The next matter that I want settled is what Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham is doing tangled up with Charlottesville’s Foxfield Races:

Cunningham serves on the honorary committee for Foxfield Races, a horse race that raises money for an organization tied to MZM and Wade known as the Sure Foundation. Nancy and April Cunningham are among four people listed on the foundation’s web site as members of the “advisory council.” Nancy is the Cunningham’s wife and April is his daughter. The foundation, which tax forms said was created with a loan from Wade, lists its address as MZM’s headquarters in DC. Wade is listed on the foundation’s Web site as their treasurer and his wife, Christiane, is named as its “president emeritus.”

There’s a story here. I just don’t know what it is.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

4 replies on “C-Ville Weekly on Goode, MZM Scandal”

  1. Quote:

    “The next matter that I want settled is what Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham is doing tangled up with Charlottesville’s Foxfield Races:”

    The answer is that MZM is a sponsor of the Foxfield Races. Check out the “Civic Support” page on theri website:

    http://www.mzminc.com/civicsupp.cfm

    You’re right, there is a story here, it’s in today’s Washington Post:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/16/AR2005071601018_pf.html

    Intelligence Center, Contractor MZM on Cozy Terms

  2. The answer is that MZM is a sponsor of the Foxfield Races.

    Yeah, but I still don’t get it. He’s all the way in California. What does he owe to Foxfield? (Or vice-versa?) Why wouldn’t MZM just sponsor Foxfield? Or if they want one of their guys to sponsor it, wouldn’t Virgil Goode make a lot more sense? I’m down with the connection, via MZM, but I still don’t understand it.

    Thanks muchly for mentioning the Post piece — I hadn’t seen that!

  3. Jerry Kilgore recieved $5000.contribution from the Defense Contractor,MZM on 03/29/05.

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