Congress Drags Feet, Impedes Cunningham ProbeIt has been nearly five months since Justice Department prosecutors working the Duke Cunningham corruption case first requested information from three key House committees. To date, they haven’t got a scrap of paper in return, nor a single interview with a staffer, Roll Call’s John Bresnahan reports today.
In May, if you recall, anonymous Hill denizens whined to the media that if they really tried to comply, Congress would “shut down.”
DoJ wants information stretching back to 1997, and requests that broad could lead them to knock on many new doors. Independent reports have already confirmed that as offshoots of the Cunningham probe, the DoJ is looking into Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Katherine Harris (R-FL), and possibly others, as well as former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) — and, of course, Cunningham himself.
What would ten years of records and information about a corrupt congressman uncover? Apparently, that’s for Congress to know, and the rest of America to wonder about — for a while. Congress’ August recess is coming up, which provides another reason for them to do nothing. Will Justice let them get away with it?