Cunningham, Under Investigation, Signed Letter Criticizing Prosecutor

It was nothing personal.

Four months after the San Diego United States Attorney’s office launched an investigation into whether he had accepted bribes from defense contractors, and little more than a month before he pled guilty to those charges, Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) signed on to a letter criticizing U.S. Attorney Carol Lam’s “lax” handling of immigration crimes.

The letter, signed by 18 other Republican lawmakers, was sent October 20, 2005. Cunningham pled guilty November 28 to bribery charges and resigned from office.

You can see the letter, released last night, here.

Thanks to TPM Reader JM for the catch.

Note: A friend adds dryly: “Cunningham, in October ’05, apparently thought there were crimes being committed that Lam wasn’t prosecuting.”