Pleading guilty is for chumps like Mitchell Wade, apparently.

Brent Wilkes, that's Duke Cunningham's Mr. Coconspirator #1 to you, will not plead guilty, according to today's WSJ expose. That must be very good news to Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), his buddy at the CIA, and others whom Wilkes had bought into.

Even though prosecutors have a fair amount on Wilkes, somehow he thinks he can beat this rap. And he's in for a long, expensive haul. Maybe that's why in February, he took out a $1.5 million loan on his home.