This list of bribes that Duke Cunningham accepted from MZM, Inc. is impressive:
- $200,000 toward the purchase of his Arlington, Va., condominium.
- $140,000 to a third party for the “Duke-Stir” yacht, which was moved to his boat slip for his use.
- $16,867.13 to a marine services company for repairs to his own yacht, the “Kelly C.”
- $12,000 paid to an antique store for three night stands, a leaded glass cabinet, a washstand, a buffet and four armoires.
- $6,632 paid to a furniture store for a leather sofa and a sleigh-style bed.
- $7,200 paid to an antique store for a circa 1850 Louis Phillipe period commode and a circa 1830 Restoration period commode.
- $13,500 toward the purchase of a Rolls-Royce.
- $17,889.96 for repairs to the Rolls-Royce.
- $11,393.56 paid to a moving company to ship his belongings from his Arlington condominium to his San Diego-area home.
- $2,081.30 paid to a Washington, D.C., hotel for his daughter’s graduation party.
- $9,200 paid to a manufacturer for two Laser Shot shooting simulators.
- $10,000 paid to various hotels, resorts and restaurants for his meals and entertainment expenses.
- Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to him and a company he controlled.
For Cunningham to accept a massive personal check from Mitchell Wade and deposit it into his bank account is absolutely breathtaking. These guys must have figured that they were way, way above the law, that there was no chance that anything would happen to them if they got caught. You can’t engage in such open-air bribery and figure you won’t get caught. Can you?
Leave Duke Cunningham alone. He confessed and apologized in a sincere way. He’s resigned from any position of power. Yes, he did some very bad and illegal things and yes he is part of a Republican culture of corruption. But he has admitted guilt and he is being a man about it.
For my own part, I forgive Cunningham. Let’s leave him alone with the American justice system and stop attacking a man who has waved a white flag and put his hands in the air. There are plenty of other criminals still at large in Washington. Go attack them instead.
Are you kidding? I’m to stop writing about the matter 24 hours later because, hey, he confessed?
“Leave him alone”? No, instead scream it loud and clear for all to hear. Over and over till it is fully understood the way things are getting done today in Washington. There are alot more rats like Cunningham hidden in the walls. Keep it up Waldo, Americans need to know the whole dirty truth.
ATA, this is your funniest blog comment.
The award for the best snark of the day goes to ATA.
He confessed and apologized. It wasn’t a BS ‘if I did anything wrong…’ type thing either. He’s cooperating with investigators. He’s sincerely asked for forgiveness and I’m giving it to him. This doesn’t make him a hero or a saint. It makes him a guy willing to get down on his knees and offer the kind of humility necessary to eventually redeem himself. Assuming that he woke up Monday morning and was born again, there’s no better course that he could have taken since that moment. I respect that.
Go ahead, keep writing about the whole MZM thing. There’s a lot more dirt to dig up on other people involved in it. What I’m saying is let’s shift the focus away from Cunningham and over to MZM, Wade, Harris and Goode. I’ve been seeing a lot of liberals continue to bludgeon Cunningham for the sheer joy of bludgeoning Cunningham. I don’t like that. Waldo is actually being fairly good about it and at least focusing on the story it’s self rather than attacking Cunningham per se.
He told the truth….moments before he was going to be outed for being a bloody criminal. While priceless, its a zero point move.
If he had seen the light somewhere between the $6,632 paid to a furniture store for a leather sofa and the $7,200 paid to an antique store for a circa 1850 Louis Phillipe period commode…I just may have been compelled to cut him some slack.
He only came clean because he was busted. Sad, but its that simple.