Nov 28 2005
Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham – Felon
I have no sympathy for California Republican Congress Randy Duke Cunningham for taking bribes. He’s a crook:
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges, admitting taking $2.4 million in bribes in a case that grew from an investigation into the sale of his home to a wide-ranging conspiracy involving payments in cash, vacations and antiques.
Cunningham, 63, entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004. Cunningham answered “yes, Your Honor” when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties.
Cunningham was a decorated war veteran (take note Murtha). And I can bet you the long term carcasses congressman in power in DC do very similar things all the time.
What I do hope is this opens the doors to prosecute every last congressman and senator who has skirted the rules. We need to clean house and send a message – keep it clean and you can feed at the country’s payroll trough.
House Ethics rules say that any lawmaker convicted of a felony no longer should vote or participate in committee work. Under Republican caucus rules, Cunningham also would lose his chairmanship of the House Intelligence subcommittee on terrorism and human intelligence.
And pols wonder why hardworking, saving people in this country are fed up with them? It’s not bad enough they nag and denigrate us, but they cheat and lie too!
It is disappointing. Cunningham’s one of those who I considered a good guy. There’s a part of me that suspects a lot of this case was still BS. Unfortunately, Washington, DC has become a place where BS trips good people like Duke Cunningham up, and allows folks like Jim McDermott to skate after they release an illegally taped phone conversation. Robert Torricelli and Pat Leahy can leak information that blows sources of intellgience (and in Leahy’s case, probably got one killed). But we can’t have people giving Congressmen who they’ve been friends with for years gifts (like rugs and furniture) or allowing that Congressman to stay in a yacht rent-free.
Sorry, but this was BS tripping up an otheriwse good person who I don’t think had any evil intentions. As has been detailed here, others have done worse, and did not get a felony rap.
[…] When Randy’Duke’ Cunnigham admitted he took bribes, my position was so sad, to bad, accept your consequences. […]