REPUBLICROOK RANDY "DUKE" CUNNINGHAM IS STILL NOT IN PRISON. HE'S STILL IN CONGRESS WHEELING AND DEALING

Today the Associated Press ran a story on Cunningham called "Cunningham Leaving After Years of Deals" and lead it with a provocative first sentence: "Even in a world that thrives on perks and friendly deals, Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham has stood out." Pretty wild for the AP-- but still part of the disgraceful coverup of this vicious, greedy turd's criminal adventures AND THOSE OF HIS CLOSEST COLLEAGUES in Washington DC, from Tom DeLay and Jerry Lewis (not the funny one, the crooked one) to George Bush.

Associated Press sums up this bucket of shit's story: "The California Republican... wasn't a wealthy man when he arrived on Capitol Hill in 1991, but in recent years he has lived like one. His home in Washington was a rent-free yacht provided by a defense contractor. In San Diego, he bought a mansion using the profits from a home sold to the same contractor" (Mitchell Wade, a slime-bucket who was caught destroying evidence, leading to the FBI to raid Cunningham's homes, which, in turn, led Cunningham to announce he would not be seeking re-election). AP goes into some of "Duke's" outrageous dealings, verging on war profiteering as well as bribery, with defense contractor MZM, Inc and mentions that he is finally admitting that he used his role on Jerry Lewis' corrupt House Appropriations Committee to illegally secure hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts for Wade's company, MZM Inc., along with other firms that donated to his (and Lewis' campaigns), including ADCS Inc., another company with ties to Wade. Not only did these companies donate very generously to Cunningham's campaigns (as well as to the campaigns of other corrupt GOP congressional crooks like Tom DeLay, Jerry Lewis and Katherine Harris), some MZM employees told the San Diego Union-Tribune that they were pressured to contribute their personal money (being told by Wade that their professional well-being depended on their generosity to Cunningham and his powerful-- and power-mad-- Republican pals). Three years ago Cunningham escaped scott-free from a similar deal where he "accepted" over $30,000 throughout the 90's from a San Diego defense contractor, Science and Applied Technology Inc. to get taxpayer dollars funneled into the company.

So with Associated Press spilling all these beans, how can I accuse them of being part of a cover-up? Easy. Towards the end of the piece they briefly mention Cunningham's relationship with convicted Long Island felon/GOP contributor Thomas T. Kontogiannis, who conspired with a corrupt Republican school district superintendent (and congressional candidate) to cheat New York schools out of millions of dollars in computer equipment. Cunningham accepted-- at the very least-- a $400,000 bribe to get this guy a future presidential pardon when Bush leaves office. Cunningham claims he wasn't selling an actual pardon, just some advice about which attorney to use. Who do they expect will believe these two crooks exchanged $400,000 for Cunningham to give Kontogiannis a lawyer's name and phone number? Associated Press? The L.A. Times? Apparently, yes. The mass media hasn't been asking what the Bush Regime knew about Cunningham selling presidential pardons. Was Bush getting part of the pay-off? Did he agree? Or did Rove agree for him? No one is asking. The AP seemed more worked up over Cunningham selling $595 Buck knives emblazoned with the image of the congressional seal, which is illegal and really low but... I mean presidential pardons for $400,000 or Buck knives with a congressional seal for $595... which do you think is a bigger story?