Dusty Can't Catch a Break

This is more of an update on the ongoing saga of bribery and hookers that swept Randy "Duke" Cunningham out of power and ensnared officials from the CIA in a sordid case of indiscretion and corruption, all of it linked to Brent Wilkes.Next time, perhaps these guys should call Paul Wolfowitz and ask him how it went for him when he lined up a great job for his gal pal:

[A] new indictment against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, a former No. 3 official at the spy agency and a onetime senior CIA ethics officer, alleges that he pressured CIA managers into hiring the woman after she was turned down for a position in the CIA's general counsel office. He also allegedly made false statements about her qualifications, the indictment states.

Foggo, the CIA's executive director from 2004 to 2006, specifically told agency officials he had a "special interest" in seeing the woman hired, and he later berated them when they initially rejected her application. "When the ExDir has a special interest, you had better take notice," Foggo told the general counsel's staff, according to an indictment filed late Tuesday by the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria.

Federal prosecutors say Foggo's alleged intervention on behalf of the woman was but one of a series of successful efforts by him to manipulate the intelligence agency, many of which went undetected for a time by its spies. Foggo managed to win jobs, money and other favors for friends and business partners while concealing the nature of his relationships from the agency, Justice Department officials allege in court documents.

Foggo, hired to the No. 3 position by then-CIA Director Porter Goss, faces charges of fraud, conspiracy and conflict of interest stemming mostly from alleged favors he performed for California businessman Brent R. Wilkes, a childhood friend and prominent GOP fundraiser.

You have to wonder if Foggo's girlfriend knew about the hookers:

In addition, federal law enforcement sources said the probe continues into "outstanding issues" in the Cunningham bribery case and that Foggo is part of those issues.

After reports surfaced last week alleging Wilkes provided Cunningham with limousines and prostitutes at two Washington hotels, Foggo said he had attended poker parties thrown by Wilkes there.

In a statement issued by the CIA, Foggo said he never saw anything "untoward" at the games, and he said any allegation to the contrary would be "false, outrageous and irresponsible."

"If he attended occasional card games with friends over the years, Mr. Foggo insists they were that and nothing more," the spokeswoman said.

The FBI is investigating allegations that Wilkes contracted with a Virginia company, Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Inc., to procure prostitutes for Cunningham and deliver them to the hotels.

Through his attorneys, Chris Baker, CEO of the company, denied wrongdoing.

Shirlington holds a $21.2 million contract to provide shuttle buses and other transportation for the Department of Homeland Security. Baker has a criminal record that includes two felony convictions and a number of misdemeanors.

And now you know why the "DC Madam" is dead. But you already knew that all of these things were connected, right?

No Love for Corrupt ex-Congressman JD Hayworth

Poor JD Hayworth. When last we saw him, he was getting swept out of office for being too corrupt for the people of Arizona to tolerate. Now he's begging for cash:

In my case, I firmly believe Justice Department lawyers started preliminary inquiries AFTER the stories appeared. In other words, DOJ attorneys read the papers like everyone else, and the false allegations appearing in the press and on the internet attracted their attention.

At any rate, I had to retain legal counsel in Washington , D.C. to communicate with the Justice Department and co-ordinate compliance with the DOJ’s requests for documents. Whatever remained in the campaign treasury went to cover those fees–and they did not cover them completely.

As a result, I still have outstanding legal bills that total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

That’s why “The Freedom in Truth Trust” has been established. Its name comes from holy scripture (”You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”–John 8:32), and its acronym (FIT) is accurate, since this entire episode has given us fits!

The trust was set up by local legal counsel and is administered by a California accounting firm.

Because this is not a political campaign account, IRS gift rules govern personal contributions. Individuals can give a total of $12,000 (twelve thousand dollars) annually; married couples can contribute a total of $24,000 (twenty four thousand dollars).

Ha Ha! Yeah, you read that right. Married couples can pony up 24K. What? The economy isn't THAT bad, right?

"Justice Department" lawyers went after you? The same group that couldn't find corruption in the Republican Party if it hit them in the head? You've gotta be a blatantly corrupt member to get chased after by a Republican controlled DOJ, dude. As in, stupid enough to make a bribe menu. Stupid enough to write shit down in E-mails and stupid enough to think you would never get caught.

Hey--if DOJ couldn't make a case against you, well, all the better. It's a rule of law thing, and if they couldn't nail you, they couldn't nail you. Ain't freedom sweet? Sounds like someone's bitching because they got to keep their freedom. Is that really the American way?

I left my "donation" at his site:

Pale Rider Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

March 28th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
What happened to the boasting loudmouth who used to go on Imus and run Democrats down?

Suck on it, Hayworth, you miserable clown. You oughta be wearing an orange jumpsuit and picking up trash along the freeway.

You know, some of my best work NEVER sees the light of day. Wingnuts moderate their stuff so tight you'd think the words a, an and the were intended to separate them from their mortal coil.

Hey, JD? Has Russert called lately?

Wilkes Doesn't Get Enough Time In Jail

The "Duke Stir"
Americans never pay attention to what matters. Corruption during wartime? Hey, that matters. People end up dead or maimed for life because of contracting fraud. It ain't sexy, but it's real. And it matters. It matters what gear the troops get and it matters how that money is spent.

Today, something that matters happened and I doubt you could find more than a handful of people who get the significance of it.

SAN DIEGO - A defense contractor was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Tuesday for bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with cash, trips, the services of prostitutes and other gifts in exchange for nearly $90 million in Pentagon work.

Brent Wilkes was labeled "a predatory wolf (in) self-styled patriot's clothing" and a "poster boy for war profiteering" by prosecutor Phillip Halpern. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said he was troubled that Wilkes continued to maintain his innocence.

"If you were to do the right thing about this, today is the day to own up," Burns told Wilkes at the sentencing hearing.

Well, of course, there's no way in hell Wilkes is ever going to own up to being a world class sleaze. Isn't there a war on? Wouldn't Wilkes qualify for the Death Penalty if somehow, somewhere, there was just an ounce of shame left in the US Justice system? Twelve years for a slam dunk case like this? What do you want to bet that a whole lot of prominent people wrote the judge nice letters about Wilkes?

This is what it was all about:

Prosecutors argued during a three-week trial that Wilkes lavished Cunningham with more than $700,000 in perks, including cash, submachine gun shooting lessons and the services of prostitutes. In return, they said, Cunningham helped Wilkes secure $87 million in Pentagon contracts, mainly for scanning paper documents.

Wilkes' attorney asked for a sentence less than the eight years and four months Cunningham received. Prosecutors asked for a "significantly higher punishment," and federal probation officials had recommended 60 years.

Wilkes acknowledged no wrongdoing in a brief statement in which he asked the judge to look beyond his dealings with Cunningham.

"I am a man who cares deeply for this community, for my family, for my country," Wilkes said.

Bullshit. Wilkes cared about that contract, and nothing else. This country was at war and he profited from it by bribing a Congressman. AND THAT DOESN'T GET YOU THE DEATH PENALTY IN THIS COUNTRY? I mean, what the hell?

This war has been a massive transfer of spending from social programs and entitlements to a defense contracting world that is stuffed full of contracts like the one Wilkes got Cunningham to send his way. Was he the lowest bidder? Probably not. Was it rigged? Obviously. So scanning paper documents probably isn't a sexy, glamorous contract. Not like, say, providing Marines with Mine Resistant Vehicles. Except that instead of money going to something that would save lives, here's a classic case of a bullshit contract eating up tens of millions of dollars that should have gone somewhere else. Isn't it weird to see Kit Bond actually doing something decent for once? Gotta take note of that.

Anyway, this contract also went into the Homeland Security realm, including a link to a limosine company. Nice to see how that money was pissed away, too.

This is what set me off tonight, though:

Authorities said Wilkes bribed Cunningham to win work for ADCS Inc., a data and document storage company he owned.

"Wilkes coldly and successfully exploited the simplemindedness of one of this country's war heroes, now a tortured shadow of his former self," prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentencing court filing last week. "Wilkes stands now revealed as a war profiteer, a thug, a bully, a lecherous old man who preyed on his young female staffers and hired prostitutes."

BULLSHIT! How loud can I scream it. Bull fucking shit.

Cunningham was not duped--Cunningham made a fucking list of what he wanted! He wrote it out on his office stationery! He knew exactly what he wanted, including spending time doing weird shit with women on the Duke Stir.

This went back years, for crying out loud. And Cunningham was always the bully in the room, NOT the one being bullied:

In the case of Cunningham, Stern remembers an incident he witnessed in 1996 between Duke and Congressman Barney Frank, the gay congressman from Massachusetts, embroiled at the time in his own scandal involving a former male companion who had been caught running a prostitution ring from the congressman's basement. The exchange happened at a meeting on immigration during which Republicans were maneuvering to prevent Democrats from commenting on a related bill. Frank objected to being steamrolled.

“When Barney started to make his plea, Cunningham cut him off and said, ‘Well, would you like to talk about prostitutes and basements,'” Stern remembered. “The room just fell silent.”

Yeah, so good riddance to you, Mr. Wilkes. May you rot in prison and then find a way to rot in hell as well.

Cunningham gets to rot with you...