Brent and Dusty: Still Crazy After All These Years
“Dusty” Foggo was a security guard at the Chula Vista (Calif.) Sears. Brent Wilkes was a high school football star. Wilkes and Foggo always had wild parties, women, and fast cars. Foggo became #3 at the CIA; Wilkes became a millionaire defense contractor. And now both men are under scrutiny by federal investigators for being at the heart of what is alleged to be a widespread ring of bribery, prostitution and corruption. “They’re doing the same thing they did in high school. They’re just 30 years older.” (10News, via War&Piece)
Cunningham Probe Reaches Top Ranks of House GOP
Federal investigators are probing ties between egregiously corrupt former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) and Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), one of the most powerful members of Congress. As chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Lewis runs the process of how the House allocates the government’s money. Money quote:
When asked about the probe, Lewis replied, “For goodness sake, why would they be doing that?” (LA Times)
FBI: With Public Corruption In Vogue, Director Struts His Agency’s Stuff
Long a neglected division of the FBI, the Public Integrity Unit is experiencing a resurgence of popularity with its high-profile investigations of Cunningham, Abramoff and others. For the first time in recent memory, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is billboarding his bureau’s efforts in a speech in San Diego, Calif. (NYTimes)
Abramoff Had A Good Friend in White House
“You’re in our thoughts,” White House official David Safavian e-mailed Jack Abramoff last year, as the superlobbyist was falling from grace. “Let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do to help.” (LA Times)
Foggo, on Wilkes: It Ain’t Nothing But a Good Time
While a CIA official, Foggo repeatedly vacationed with his defense contracting pal Brent Wilkes, but never reported when Wilkes picked up the tab. “One time [Foggo] would pay the airfare. Another time Brent would pay it,” his lawyer explains. (WashPost)
Cunningham Not Cooperating: Grey Lady Edition
The New York Times picks up on yesterday’s story in the North County (Calif.) Times on Duke’s non-cooperation. Duke “has refused to talk with Pentagon investigators,” the Times reports. (NYTimes)
Congress Loathe to Give Up Earmarks
Legislation with the stated goal of stopping lawmakers’ habit of setting money aside for favored projects and campaign donors is flawed, watchdogs say. Over 40 percent of earmarks would still be allowed, under the proposed legislation. (The Hill)
Ney, Ensnared in Scandal, Avers Innocence
Embattled Rep. Bob Ney, brushing aside pressure from his own party, told fellow Republican lawmakers Wednesday he is innocent of wrongdoing and determined to seek a new term this fall, according to GOP sources. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters after Ney had spoken to lawmakers that “it was a very heartfelt discussion,” but declined to say more. Others who were present said Ney received a standing ovation when he finished speaking. (AP, The Hill)
NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. (USA Today)
Foggo’s Foot-Dragging
Administration sources claim that one of Porter Goss’s top deputies, Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, stonewalled efforts to reform U.S. intelligence gathering. (Newsweek)
The GOP’S Katherine Harris Problem
Katherine Harris has always presented an amusing Gordian knot for the Republican party. She’s so divisive and unpopular that she almost certainly can’t win a general election in Florida. But hard-core Republican activists are still so grateful for her role in the 2000 recount that she’s nearly impossible to beat in a primary. That latter fact now seems to have scared off the Florida GOP’s last, best hope for blocking her path to the nomination. (TNR)
Rep. William Jefferson: One More Reason for the High Price of Gas
Jefferson’s entire political career has been based in large part on performing great acts on behalf of the oil and gas industry, one of his biggest sources of campaign money. (Harper’s)
Coin Dealer Asks To Change Plea To Guilty
A major GOP fundraiser charged in a scandal over a state rare-coin investment asked to change his not guilty pleas Wednesday on separate federal charges that he illegally funneled donations to President Bush’s re-election campaign. (AP)
Visiting the Scene of the (Alleged) Crime
Perhaps inspired by his client, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), defense attorney Richard Cullen, who is representing the former Majority Leader in Washington, D.C.’s federal corruption investigation, recently returned from a trip to Scotland. (Roll Call)
DOJ Leveraging Lobbying Ban
In its probe of Jack Abramoff’s seven-year bribery conspiracy, the Justice Department broke new ground with its recent prosecutions of ex-Congressional aides for, among other crimes, violating the one-year ban on lobbying their former bosses after departing for K Street. (Roll Call)
Ex-Georgia School Chief Pleads Guilty to Fraud
A former state schools superintendent pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud and money laundering, ending her trial on charges alleging she embezzled $600,000 in federal education money to fund a failed campaign for governor and a face lift. (CNN)
