I wish we had Congressional Scandal Trading Cards, because I’d introduce a new one: the Hyatt Regency Washington.
Located on Capitol Hill, the hotel served as one of the first meeting-places for alleged Duke Cunningham briber Brent Wilkes to meet with congressmen, the New York Times reported Sunday.
We already know of two other hotels in that series: the Watergate Hotel and the Westin Grand, which hosted a number of Wilkes’ “poker parties.” The Watergate has confirmed being subpoeanaed by federal prosecutors in connection to the Cunningham scandal; the Westin refused any substantive response to a long series of my phone calls.
What, I wondered, would the Hyatt tell us? Have they been roped into this spreading scandal?
After a brief conversation this morning, Hyatt spokeswoman Tammy Hagin called me back to say, “I’m not able to find that information out at this point.”
Why not? I asked. If you can’t find out, is there someone who could, and report back to you?
“I don’t have anybody here who can do that,” she said.
Someone at the hotel, I reasoned, would know the answer to the question. Who would that be? Tammy told me it would be either the comptroller or the general manager. But the comptroller wouldn’t know, she said, because she’s a new employee.
What about the general manager? Could you ask him?
“I could ask him,” she agreed, “but he’s not going to tell me. It’s stuff I don’t think he would talk about.”
