Yet another eyebrow is raised high due to Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who was pitchforked into national headlines last week when he sponsored an amendment that passed the House that banned flag-burning.
Cunningham’s big moment on the national stage to pass a motion to get a constitutional amendment that the vast majority of Americans have not been clamoring to have passed came within weeks of him being hit by several scandals involving his allege ties to a defense contractor who bought his house from him, then sold it at a loss, and also let him live on his boat. But, hey, we all know that defense contractors would do that for us, too — so what’s the big deal??
And now there’s this from the San Diego Union-Tribune, TMV’s former employer, a paper that has traditionally been supportive of him and has been breaking the unfolding scandal in a series of stories (and unlike Dan Rather we can ASSURE you the UT does not run stories without confirmation). The Copley News Service story raises about yet ANOTHER tie:
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s ties to a charitable foundation started by defense contractor Mitchell Wade and his wife are under attack by a public-interest watchdog group in Washington, D.C., and a political rival in San Diego.
The charity, the Sure Foundation, is headquartered in the same Washington town house as Wade’s defense contracting firm, MZM Inc. Wade’s wife, Christiane, is the foundation’s president, and he is its treasurer. Cunningham’s wife, Nancy, and one of his daughters, April, are listed as members of the foundation’s advisory board.
“These two men have mixed up their business, social and charitable lives,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington. “It would be one thing for Mitchell Wade to be Duke Cunningham’s good friend, and even for family members to be on the advisory council,” she said. But, she added, “it takes on an entirely different cast in light of the fact that Mitchell Wade has business before Duke Cunningham’s (congressional) committee.”
Cunningham is on the House defense appropriations subcommittee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both of which have been crucial panels for Wade in securing government contracts, according to former MZM employees.
The foundation’s mission is “to promote the health care, education and spiritual development of children worldwide.”
Quick, Randy: with this latest story it’s time to sponsor a House vote for a constitutional amendment making draft card burning punishable by a 50 year jail sentence and a two hour lecture from Tom Cruise on the evils of drugs and psychiatry. Draft cards aren’t what they used to be? Then make it Social Security cards…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.