The Dread Dinners!
Hey. Remember when Duke Cunningham was a hero? Well, once you’re useless to the up-and-comers, that hero reputation dies a quick death (h/t chrisc).
Wade said the now-imprisoned congressman was so critical to securingmillions of dollars in federal contracts that defense contractors werewilling to act like they were his friends.
"We would dread having dinner with (Cunningham) and having to listen tohim repeat the same jokes," Wade told jurors in the same courtroomwhere Cunningham pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2006 to more thaneight years in prison for taking bribes.
I wonder if Wade is going to tell the jurors that Cunningham’s hot tub was filled with Potomac water, or that Cunningham used it, during parties, naked?
Of course, that only tangentially pertains to Wade’s task at hand, to incriminate Brent Wilkes sufficiently so his own sentence is lessened.
But I do hope Wade’s testimony might serve as a lesson to those other Congressmen Representative Flake hopes will be indicted for their earmarking ways. I think it’s this kind of humiliation, as much as anything else, that might serve as a deterrent for these people.
Humiliation…? A few more hits of coke and a couple more martinis will soothe any ill effects from the pain of humiliation. They’ll get over it.
But when the hangover wears off, they need to be facing a more transparent campaign finance system, and a lot more public accountability.
â€I wonder if Wade is going to tell the jurors that Cunningham’s hot tub was filled with Potomac water, or that Cunningham used it, during parties, naked?â€
pass the brain bleach please
randiego
THe poor jurors are falling asleep–they need something to keep them interested until Geragos calls one of the hookers as a defense witness.
Cunningham sounds like he’s really become unhinged, judging by that letter he wrote to the Trib from the pokey. I wonder if this bashing from his former pals will incite him to spill whatever beans are left? I have a feeling there are many.
I wonder if the Dukester even has any more beans to spill?
It seems to me that he was the â€Dupester†in the whole magilla, and that the real sharks were folks like Wade, Wilkes, and thusfar, â€un-named†others who continued to frenzily feed from the hands of mucho more politicos.
And only some of these politicos have ever received subpoenas.
Yeah, this ought to serve as an ego-check to a lot of other congresscritters. Duke has had a lot of time to think. That big ol’ trophy that Wilkes gave him at the Salute to Heroes night- did it mean nothing? A former employee at the trial testified that Wilkes though Duke was stupid. And now Wade testified about the horror of having to spend time listening to Duke’s stupid jokes. Pretty embarrassing. It is going to make it all the more painful if Duke has to testify.
I wonder how it will all play out for Geragos defense- that this is just how the game is played. If I was on this jury I think I would be waiting to find out the legal definition of bribery. When is an earmark just an earmark and not a bribe? Was it all just dumb Duke’s fault and the contractors were just being contractors? Will the jury start to have a bit of Forest Gump sympathy for dumb ol’ Duke and turn on Wilkes and Wade for taking advantage of the dumbass?
And predictions from the lawyers out there?
In the meantime, things are moving on Wilkes 2nd trial- the one with Foggo.
There is a status conference on Tue. according to Judge Burns calendar.
http://www2.casd.uscourts.gov/…..s/1015.pdf
Chrisc – If I were Wilkes attorney, this case would have been tried over my strenuous objection. Once Cunningham pled guilty, I would have camped out at the front door of the prosecutor with pizza and a case of beer so we could sit down and work out a friendly deal immediately. I am convinced that they all thought that they could ride it out and Cheney or somebody would see to it that it was ended with the Duke. The only good deal would have been immediate and they were still arrogant. They are making the only play they have now as far as a defense theory, but it has the appearance of being slapped together haphazardly at the last second. They do not appear to have worked up the hooker witnessed very well, they were still playing Geragos games for sensationalism instead of effectiveness; the defense looks like a last minute clusterfuck. Contrast with the way Michael’s lawyers have quietly pieced their defense together; the way they used their motion practice to actually put the prosecution in a couple of corners and flesh out witnesses etc. Not so much glam, but a hell of a lot more effective. Jury isn’t going to like any of these people in this trial, and nobody is going to feel sorry for the ole Dukestir; my guess is they will zonk Wilkes on just about every count. Hey, by the way, I haven’t heard of Michael being quarantined or anything; that continuance and severance must have been key to his recovery! Heh heh.
Bmaz,
Somebody posted some interesting comments after this SDUT story. Judge Burns also mentioned another grand jury when he was discussing the need to keep Kontogiannis’ plea sealed. He said that it could be unsealed after that GJ had finished. So, it is possible the commenter isn’t just making stuff up.
Is the DC investigation, the one that K is co-operating with? Were those unnamed USAs from DC? That could get interesting. As for the nephew John T. Michael and his feisty wife, I think maybe somebody wants to shut them up. Is a new plea agreement in the works? Something more to their liking this time? Maybe there won’t be any trial for him.
Chrisc – As to the mystery AUSAs; I originally thought they were DC boys, but there was a lot of mention of New York – SDNY I assume. Don’t know if I got this perception from transcripts, articles, LHP comments, or if I am completely mis-remembering this part. DC or EDVA makes a lot more sense though. WOW. Those comments by â€DLD†were pretty fascinating. I read through them a couple of times looking for red flags indicating BS; could not find any overt ones, it could be legitimate although it sounds too good to be true. I guess we will see. If the part about the NSA stuff is true, that is a blockbuster of some sort. I question the part about having to wait until after â€next month’s elections†though. What elections? This is an off year. I don’t see why any state or mere primary elections would be a sufficient reason to delay this type of stuff. Maybe there is a reason I am not seeing; but I am sure not seeing it. Interesting stuff though. I would not be shocked at all for there to be a plea for Michael; quite frankly, he probably should be plead out. Use him, give him some home confinement and don’t waste prosecutorial and judicial resources. Make him forfeit the sex toys…..
… I have a feeling there are many…
I dunno about that. Cunningham might know some stuff about, say, Lewis. And I’m sure he has some interesting leads but I can’t see him having the goods on too many people. Why didn’t he use it? And, while, sure, it looks like he’s hold some stuff back, my guess is that it’s the classified nature of the corruption, not the quantity or quality, that’s holding him back. He doesn’t want to get into more trouble. Also, Cunningham really isn’t the swiftest guy and I can’t see the players bigger than him spilling their secrets to him.
Duke is an Ultra-Patriot Strict Daddy (Do as I say, not as I do.)
For him, and them, the ends – triumph of America’s military might as a reflection of God’s favor and Our National ’Righteousness’ as True Believers – justify the means (circumventing the Law, in secret, to advance The Agenda.)
For him, playing the US vs. Them game all the way to the defeat and subjection of All percieved (wrong-thinking) Enemies – Civilizing and Christianizing the Evil People of the World to ’Our Way of Life’ – is only Logical.
If he gets a boat, a Rolls, a house, hookers and a hot tub filled with river water just the way he likes it along the way, then it’s all Just rewards for Loyal service to the Cause, the Agenda. He felt so good about it, that he just wanted to walk around naked.
In his mind, Honor means Loyalty to The Agenda, and The Agenda is always unquestionly ’right.’ The greater his service, the greater the reward he’s entitled to recieve as a result. The Duke obviously felt part of his reward was immunity from the Rule of Law.
Cunningham, imho, wouldn’t have much of a problem ’confessing’ to his ’excesses’ on the rewards side – he sees himself as entitled to them, and probably couldn’t believe he was getting prosecuted – he was probably certain every step of the way that it was all going to go away the ’next’ day, like a bad hangover.
Confessing to what he did to (illegally) support the Agenda, however, would be tantamount to Disloyalty to the Agenda, and he’s not likely to go there.
And, Hubris (which often comes across as ’not very sharp’ but over-entitled all the same – ’born on third, thinks he hit a triple’) is nevertheless so powerful, that the Duke could very well be sitting in his Jail Cell right now, and blaming US ’phony Americans’ for de-railing The Agenda and putting World Domination by the Most Favored in Doubt.