So where is this congressional prostitutes proto-scandal going?
As you know, we’ve been following the Duke Cunningham scandal pretty much since day one. And from the beginning there were rumors — let’s say, more than rumors but less than anyone was willing to go into print with — of parties over on Duke’s yacht with prostitutes and various illicit substances. Later there was more concrete information that Wilkes and Wade (the two key bribers in the case) not only gave cash gifts and antiques to Cunningham but also women in exchange for performing his earmark magic. Nor was Duke the only member of Congress alleged to be in the mix.
At least two and I think three media organizations were on the story of the Wilkes-Wade defense contracting bacchanals. And the story even, very elliptically, made it into print with mentions of the “hospitality suite, with several bedrooms,” as the San Diego Union-Tribune put it in one story.
When the Journal went into print with the Duke Cunningham part of the hooker story that opened the floodgates and the Union-Tribune followed up today.
Wilkes was deep into the CIA — particularly with his high school pal, Dusty Foggo, who Porter Goss made the number three man at the Agency — as well as being very deep into Duke Cunningham. And the stories that are swirling now are not just about things that happened in the last few years — they stretch back into the early 1990s.
At the moment we’re waiting for word back from the CIA in response to our queries about the latest run of allegations about Foggo and Goss. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
