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Wilkes to Target Five Pols for Testimony
There's good news and there's bad news for lawmakers.
First the good news: Brent Wilkes' lawyer Mark Geragos withdrew the twelve subpoenas for House lawmakers after the judge signaled that he'd only approve them if they specifically related to Wilkes' defense -- i.e. the alleged bribes he gave Duke Cunningham.
Even though Geragos dropped the initial subpoenas, he told reporters later that he planned to file new ones against former House Speaker U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and California Republican Reps. John Doolittle, Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa and Jerry Lewis.
The basis for all this, Geragos says, is that "we've got members who were on these plane flights with Mr. Cunningham [on Wilkes' plane], who were going to these dinners hosted by Mr. Wilkes." Presumably this would be part of Wilkes' defense that his gifts to Cunningham were just part of a system of which he was the victim.
So the lawmakers still on Geragos' list are there because they had a relationship with Wilkes. And perhaps not coincidentally, two of those five are already under federal investigation -- Lewis for his ties to Wilkes and other lobbyists and Doolittle for his ties to Jack Abramoff.
Comments (9)
moondancer wrote on October 3, 2007 10:48 AM:That is herd of swine I'd like to see in jail. The timing is great too. Bye-Bye!
JohnW1141 wrote on October 3, 2007 11:19 AM:And here I thought Texas Republicans were the most corrupt. The California gang seems just as bad.
dasher wrote on October 3, 2007 11:29 AM:Unfortunately, the larger the group of "swine" that Geragos/Wilkes can herd into this case, the better chance that his argument (that this was the way "bidness was done" and that this was "just part of a system of which he was the victim") will fly.
Be careful what you wish for . . .
FGF wrote on October 3, 2007 11:31 AM:John, I think without a doubt the Alaskan Congressional delegation takes the prize as the most corrupt. Maybe not on a per capita basis but the entire lot of them are under scrutiny of one form or another.
thomas wrote on October 3, 2007 11:32 AM:What's Alaska going to do??
Now California has entered the race with NJ, MD, IL and LA. The field just keeps on getting bigger. Pretty soon it's going to be everyone except Vermont.
Jaspin wrote on October 3, 2007 12:23 PM:It's easy to revel in the falterings and failings of these corrupt politicians who have been feeding at the trough of our tax dollars for way too long.
But consider this, regardless of Democratic pledges to do better, to stop corruption, to listen to the voice of the people. There have been too many missed opportunities for them to demonstrate their new and improved integrity being exercised while doing the peoples business and too many mystical voting patterns which seem more like a non sequitur to our collective reality or they are serving a populace I am unaware of existing in a parallel United States.
So, yes I am pleased these scoundrels are getting their due or will be soon enough. But before we cheer too hard or too long remember they are players is a very corrupt system where few if any are untainted.
To paraphrase Mike Gravel on one of his few late night / cable TV appearances, "You sell out the American people to get all that money to run for office and the biggest sell outs are the ones standing at the top of the poles." Yeah, it's a paraphrase you get the meaning.
ShorelineCT wrote on October 3, 2007 2:36 PM:Cunningham corruption trial set to begin
http://tinyurl.com/2naxr3
..The trial is expected to last at least three weeks and may expose the inner workings of congressional appropriations, particularly "earmarks" ---- legislative moves that lawmakers use to insert money for pet projects into spending bills.
"Beyond the good, bad and ugly of how Brent Wilkes bribed Duke Cunningham is a chance to learn about the system and why Mr. Wilkes decided the only way he could get ahead in Washington was to bribe a prominent appropriator," said Keith Ashdown of a Washington watchdog group called Taxpayers for Common Sense.
..(Cunninghams') attorney, K. Lee Blalack, would not say Friday if Cunningham will take the witness stand .....
That Cunningham has been transferred from an Arizona prison to the Metropolitan Correctional Center near San Diego's Front Street federal courthouse suggests he will appear.
Diverik wrote on October 3, 2007 6:33 PM:I normally can't stand Mark Geragos. In my opinion, he's a media whore. In this case though, it may work to the public's advantage. If anyone can take this case and turn it into a big media event, it's Garagos. The side benefit for the public is that it shines a light on the whole corrupt system.
As much as it pains me to say it, here goes: (gulp)
Go get ‘em Mark!
Kibitzer 2006 wrote on October 3, 2007 11:50 PM:If I recall correctly, there were a couple of Democrats on the original subpoena list--presumably so Republicans could call it a bipartisan scandal. Now that we're down to the hard core, it's just republicans.
--Kibitzer