Defense contractor Mitchell Wade entered a guilty plea Friday to bribery, corruption and election fraud charges related to more than $1 million that he paid to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who resigned last fall after pleading guilty himself to bribery and tax evasion.
In an appearance before U.S. District Court Judge Richard Urbina in Washington, D.C., Wade conceded that he had paid over $1 million to Cunningham in exchange for the congressman's help in obtaining Defense Department contracts in his capacity as a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
According to documents filed by federal prosecutors, Wade also provided illegal benefits to Defense Department officials and violated campaign-finance laws by reimbursing employees at his company, MZM Inc., who made campaign contributions to two other members of Congress.
The members were not identified in court papers, but Reps. Virgil
H. Goode Jr., R-Va., and Katherine Harris, R-Fla., were two of the top
recipients of campaign funds from MZM employees during the 2004 and
2002 election cycles, according to campaign finance data compiled by
the Center for Responsive Politics.
UPDATE: Perseverando is salivating.
UPDATE #2: Waldo's drooling now.
Virgil will be fine. He returned the contributions to those who requested them, and he gave the rest to charity.
Posted by: John Dalton | February 24, 2006 at 07:26 PM
Let's see what Mr. Wade has to say.
Posted by: Not Larry Sabato | February 24, 2006 at 07:29 PM
Goode is going to be re-elected easily. Harris' run for Senate was doomed from the start. No new news as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Dannyboy | February 24, 2006 at 07:31 PM
NLS -- I believe that Goode's actions are a matter of public record. I cannot see how Goode could have really helped Wade. He is not on the Defense subcommittee of Appropriations. Their relationship probably stems from the fact that MZM has a facility in Virgil's district.
Posted by: John Dalton | February 24, 2006 at 07:39 PM
Goode will be indicted.
Posted by: ZB | February 24, 2006 at 09:57 PM
This is dedicated to Virgil, whose name fits my song like a charm
I learned my lesson, learned it well
Now you can see,
I can really tell
YOU'RE NO GOODE
YOU'RE NO GOODE
YOU'RE NO GOODE
BABY, YOU'RE NO GOODE
...
Thank you very much!
I'll be doing encore performances all weekend.
Posted by: linda ronstadt | February 24, 2006 at 10:28 PM
I think Linda spent too much time hanging out with Jerry Brown.
Posted by: John Dalton | February 24, 2006 at 11:11 PM
I think today's guilty plea shows that Virgil spent too much time hanging out with Mitchell Wade... So take that.
I'm gonna say it again
YOU'RE NO GOODE
YOU'RE NO GOODE
YOU'RE NO GOODE
BABY, YOU'RE NO GOODE
Posted by: linda ronstadt | February 24, 2006 at 11:23 PM
First of all John Dalton there is such a thing as votes in full committee... so everyone votes of Defense Approps at one point or another.
Secondly the approps subcommittees were recently reshuffled, between the 108th & 109th Congress so your analysis is immaterial. The operative question is not whether Virgil is on DOD Approps now, but whether he was on it THEN!!!
Posted by: truthteller | February 24, 2006 at 11:39 PM
He wasn't on it then, either. Also, yes, there are full committee votes, but the real decisions are made in subcommittee. Frankly, I fail to see where Virgil ahs done anything wrong. Persons gave him contributions. When some were questioned, he offered to refund them, and he donated the ones that were not refunded.
Posted by: John Dalton | February 25, 2006 at 12:20 AM
Virgil once did a will for a family member of mine for $45. The man sits on a stump. It don't cost much to git his attention.
By the way, since when does returning the contributions excuse a transaction? It's not like you get a mulligan or a "Get Out of Jail Free Card" on this stuff.
Returning stinky money given w/no strings is one thing. If there was pay for play, that's another. We'll see what they have.....
Posted by: Not Harry F. Byrd, Sr. | February 25, 2006 at 12:48 AM
This issue won't gain legs until the local weekly/daily papers in the 5th take it up and push it. Because there are no major media outlets there, most of the locals get their news from Richmond TV stations (Eastern end) or Lynchburg/Roanoke TV stations (on the Western end. The Richmond stations aren't really hitting this issue much.
Posted by: Conaway Haskins | February 25, 2006 at 11:26 PM
Conaway is most likely correct. Look for The Roanoke Times to take a few snide swipes on the Editorial pages, but hard news may ne difficult to come by. The Martinsville Bulletin will report factually (mostly) but not editorialize against him.
Posted by: I'm Not Emeril | February 26, 2006 at 10:34 AM