CUNNINGHAM'S SAGA IS FAR FROM OVER. THIS IS THE GUY WHO COULD ACTUALLY BRING DOWN BUSH-- IF THE MEDIA WOULD STOP HUSHING IT UP

Last May/June there were two news stories the media was completely unwilling to cover and those two stories-- Ohio's CoinGate scandal and Duke Cunningham's myriad bribery cases-- are why I started DWT. Although Tom DeLay beat him to the punch indictment-wise, Cunningham was the first of the current crop of Republican congressional bad apples to actually plead guilty for what dozens and dozens of them have been up to: bribery-- taking money in return for favors done in regard to their official capacities. When I sat down a few months ago and talked with San Diego Democrat Francine Busby she was 100% positive that Cunningham would not last until the '06 election and she's been campaigning tirelessly and effectively as though he resigned when he first announced he wouldn't be seeking re-election and it became obvious that he would try to cut a leniency deal with the authorities. Busby will make a GREAT congresswoman in the 50th but a leniency deal is not what we should be looking for here.

From the first article I ever posted on The Dukester, I had no doubt he wasn't working alone. (At the time DeLay was calling him a hero and a man of "high integrity" and, perhaps compared to DeLay and his other close associates... no, even among that crew, Cunningham was a lowlife.) DeLay's handpicked and very crooked "Ethics" Committee Chairman, "Doc" Hastings, refused to allow any investigations of Cunningham.) Randy "Duke" Cunningham is very much a part of more than just the pervasive Republican Culture of Corruption. He is part of the Tom DeLay Crime Machine and the last thing anyone should want is just to see this turn into an open-and-shut case (which is exactly what Bush and DeLay want to see). First of all, crooked Republican Congressloon Jerry Lewis was in on the majority of Cunningham's bribes. The two of them operated as a pair when it came to shaking down defense contractors. But I haven't heard about Lewis being dragged away to be fingerprinted. I haven't heard a peep about the Big Bear extremist in the Mainstream Media.

But that is the least of the real Randy "Duke" Cunningham story. If anyone ever had a reason to feel certain about getting a presidential pardon out of Bush on his way out, it would be Cunningham. That's because Cunningham was selling advance pardons for Bush to dependable GOP crooks. In fact, this is the most interesting-- and, of course, least covered-- part of the Cunningham saga.

Thomas "Gus" Kontogiannis is a very wealthy, very corrupt and very convicted Republican criminal from Long Island, a felon-- and a business associate of Cunningham's, but one who is rarely mentioned in the press. TOO DANGEROUS-- way too dangerous. That's because this is the one that touches Bush directly. Kontogiannis is a big time GOP donor (he even financed his own candidate for Congress, who lost and who was later indicted with him for cheating the NYC public school system on a fraudulent computer deal). Almost 3 years ago to the day, Kontogiannis pleaded guilty in a bid-rigging, bribe and kickback scheme. Using Cunningham's long time modus operandi, Kontogiannis bought an inexpensive boat for a great deal of money, as a way to funnel almost half a million dollars into Cunningham's pockets. But unlike dozens of other rich Republican "businessmen," Kontogiannis wasn't looking for fat, padded contracts from the Defense Department and Intelligence agencies Cunningham had oversight of. Nope; what Kontogiannis needed was a presidential pardon. And he paid $400,000 for Cunningham to be the middleman between him and Bush. Cunningham can't grant pardons; neither can Rove or Cheney, nor Bush's old dad nor Bill Clinton. Only George W Bush can grant a presidential pardon. My bet is that he's already promised one to the Dukester in '08 if he just keeps his trap shut. So instead we'll hear about lots and lots of little bribes that amount to a tiny fraction of the real criminality in the Duke Cunningham Criminal Caper.