There's one thing you can say about Duke Cunningham: He didn't come cheap. Mitchell Wade, the defense contractor who purchased Cunningham's California home for a price inflated by $700,000, today pleaded guilty to showering Duke with $1 million in bribes.
These bribes included, among other things, a $140,000 yacht (the "Duke-Stir"), an 1850s Louis Phillipe commode, Persian rugs, a Rolls Royce and two silver candelabras, all used to "feather his nest in San Diego." The requests came courtesy of Duke's "bribe menu." In return Wade's company MZM earned over $150 million in government contracts, courtesy of Duke's seat on the House defense appropriation subcommittee.
According to his plea Wade also bribed the former executive director of the Army's National Ground Intelligence Center and two sitting members of Congress, Reps. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Katherine Harris (R-FL).
Ari Berman
There’s one thing you can say about Duke Cunningham: He didn’t come cheap. Mitchell Wade, the defense contractor who purchased Cunningham’s California home for a price inflated by $700,000, today pleaded guilty to showering Duke with $1 million in bribes.
These bribes included, among other things, a $140,000 yacht (the "Duke-Stir"), an 1850s Louis Phillipe commode, Persian rugs, a Rolls Royce and two silver candelabras, all used to "feather his nest in San Diego." The requests came courtesy of Duke’s "bribe menu." In return Wade’s company MZM earned over $150 million in government contracts, courtesy of Duke’s seat on the House defense appropriation subcommittee.
According to his plea Wade also bribed the former executive director of the Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center and two sitting members of Congress, Reps. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Katherine Harris (R-FL).
Yes, the same Katherine Harris who helped hand Bush the election in Florida and is now running for the Senate against Bill Nelson. It’s hard to imagine a more deserving target.
Ari BermanTwitterAri Berman is a former senior contributing writer for The Nation.