Duncan Hunter

Duncan Hunters Keeping Donors in the Family

Andrew Tilghman | May 29, 2008, 12:35PM

Can you inherit political donors from your father?

Duncan D. Hunter, a 31-year-old Marine reservist running for his dad's California congressional seat, may prove you can.

The son of Rep. Duncan Hunter, the San Diego-area lawmaker who is the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, is getting a lot of cash from defense contractors his dad helped out.

The San Diego Union-Tribune took a look at firms that got earmarks through the elder Hunter and found they're giving money to the younger one:

Records show connections between companies Rep. Hunter has worked with and some individuals who are contributing to his son's campaign.

Rep. Hunter added language to the 2008 Defense Appropriations bill awarding $19 million to L-3 Communications, which has an office in San Diego, for the development and testing of a missile system, according to data compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Executives from that company contributed $2,750 to Duncan D. Hunter's campaign.

Rep. Hunter also earmarked San Diego-based Trex Enterprises Corp. $1.5 million for the development of a device that will help helicopter pilots navigate with limited visibility. Campaign finance records show Trex employees, including a scientist, donated $4,800 to Duncan D. Hunter's campaign.

Lobbyists working for the companies have also supported Hunter's campaign. Patrick McSwain and Frank Collins, who were listed as principals at the lobbying firm Northpoint Strategies, collectively donated $2,500. Northpoint worked on behalf of L-3. McSwain and Collins were both former [Rep. Duke] Cunningham chiefs of staff.

The younger Hunter has a strong fundraising lead over the three other Republicans vying for the nomination in the district, a GOP stronghold.

Duke Cunningham

Congress Drags Feet, Impedes Cunningham Probe

Justin Rood | July 26, 2006, 2:17PM

It 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?

Brent Wilkes

Prosecutors Focus Sights on Wilkes

Paul Kiel | July 7, 2006, 8:06AM

Yep, we were right. Brent Wilkes, the Duke Cunningham sugar daddy still at large, is the focus of a federal grand jury investigation in San Diego.

According to the AP, who sources the news to two lawyers close to the investigation, the grand jury is meeting regularly. That means the feds are actively pushing to indict Wilkes, who received over $100 million in contracts after spreading over a million dollars in illegal cash and favors around Washington, as well as allegedly hosting poker parties and providing food, liquor and prostitutes to lawmakers and staff.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if at any point Wilkes opts to plea out and cooperate with the investigation, a sweaty Washington summer will become exponentially sweatier for a number of lawmakers and their staff. Wilkes was the source of tens of thousands of dollars in questionable favors and contributions to Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), John Doolittle (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), as well as former lawmakers Tom DeLay and Duke Cunningham.

Wilkes has shown every sign of fighting any charges -- except for a cryptic comment buried in a recent Vanity Fair article about Cunningham. Wilkes' attorney, Nancy Luque, vigorously denies all the charges the magazine repeats about her client, but then adds: "He will not plead guilty, because he is not guilty. . . But he has offered to cooperate."

For the moment, however, Wilkes isn't lifting a finger, the magazine reports. And that's infuriating to federal prosecutors. "Incensed and invigorated, prosecutors are poring over his campaign contributions, and the Pentagon's inspector general is scrutinizing his contracts," VF says.

Duncan Hunter

Pentagon Watchdog Owns Cabin With Rumsfeld Pal

Justin Rood | June 12, 2006, 9:45AM

Although House Democrats have hardly been united in recent days, some are still capable of acting in unison. One excellent example: the Dems of Armed Services Committee, all 28 of them, have banded together to push panel chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to reinstate a special subcommittee dedicated to oversight and investigations of the Pentagon.

The panel was shut down under the Republicans, they say, and it's high time to restart it. Hunter, however, is mightily resisting the idea.

Any wonder why? Set aside his own troubles as a target in the Cunningham fraud investigation. According to POGO, Hunter -- who's never been a particularly toothy watchdog of Pentagon activities -- has for several years co-owned a cabin in rural Virginia with a Rumsfeld confidante and senior Pentagon official.

For the past five years, Preston M. “Pete” Geren III has been kind of a top-shelf fix-it guy for Rumsfeld, POGO's Jason Vest reports. From 2001 to 2005, Hunter's co-homeowner was a special assistant to the Defense Secretary whose duties included "keeping Congress off Rumsfeld's back," according to one of Vest's anonymous sources. In particular, Geren is said to have been tasked with quashing Hill interest in the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Since then, Geren served briefly as secretary of the Air Force before taking the job of Undersecretary of the Army in February.

With friends like these, Hunter may wonder, who needs oversight?

Duncan Hunter

Hunter Pushed Earmarks for Scandal Firm's Client

Justin Rood | June 8, 2006, 12:50PM

Wanna smell something fishy?

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) -- one of the five lawmakers known to be under investigation as part of the Cunningham scandal -- is forcing the Pentagon to spend nearly $26 million on a giant killer catamaran, "despite strong objections from the Navy," reports CongressDaily this morning.

That gets us to the water's edge -- but here's the stinking fish smell, courtesy of POGO: The boat is made by Titan Corp., who uses as a lobbyist Letitia White, the former staffer for Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) who now works at the Copeland Lowery lobby firm. (White, Lewis, and the firm are all under scrutiny as part of the Cunningham investigation.)

Hunter has also pushed the Navy to buy $27 million worth of Titan missiles which don't fly right, POGO says. I wonder if the feds are looking into this one?