GOP Rep Cops to Taking Bribes from Contractor with Ties to Roy Blunt

Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham, long the target of a Justice Department investigation, pled guilty today to charges of bribery, fraud and tax evasion. Cunningham, an eight-term California Congressman and member of the House Appropriations Committee, resigned his seat immediately after entering the guilty plea, which stemmed from dealings with a businessman who also provided private learjet flights to Rep. Roy Blunt.

The malfeasance committed and pled to by Cunningham included a series of transactions with defense contractor Brent Wilkes. Wilkes, an associate of fellow conspirator Mitchell Wade, was also the holder of lucrative Pentagon contracts (Cunningham was Chair of the Defense Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations). His involvement was described by the Associated Press:

Brent Wilkes, president of a Poway company called ADCS Inc., also gave Cunningham campaign cash and favors. Wilkes reportedly flew Cunningham in a corporate jet to go hunting in Idaho and golfing in Hawaii [emphasis added], and a charitable foundation Wilkes started spent $36,000 hosting a black tie "Tribute to Heroes" gala in 2002 that feted Cunningham with a trophy naming him a hero.

ADCS, which specializes into turning paper records into digital files, has received tens of millions in Defense Department contracts since the late 1990s. In some years, lawmakers on Cunningham's spending panel added the money themselves, even scolding the Pentagon for not requesting it in the first place.

Also with connections to Brent Wilkes, but retaining his seat in the United States Representatives, is Missouri Republican and GOP House Leader Roy Blunt.

According to an August story from the San Diego Union Tribune and noted here at Fired Up Missouri, Roy Blunt's political organization was the recipient of flights from Wilkes's company, 'Group W'. Learjet flights provided by Wilkes are giveaways of the same sort that ultimately led to Cunningham's guilty plea:

FEC records show that DeLay took his first Group W [Wilkes's outfit] flight in June 2003 on a trip with Cunningham. The two legislators paid a combined total of $3,765 for the trip. DeLay also used the Lear jet to fly to a campaign event for Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, in July 2004 at a cost of $2,350. The political action committee of Rep. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, also paid $1,590 for tickets on the plane.

It is unclear from the existing press accounts what the precise nature of the relationship between Wilkes and Blunt was, or how many other connections exist between Blunt and Cunningham's co-conspirators. Congressman Blunt would be well-served to come clean and tell the people of Missouri just how well he knows Brent Wilkes or his associates, and how many times he or his staff flew around the country on a Group W plane with Indictee Tom DeLay and admitted criminal Duke Cunningham.

All of us, particularly those who live in his Seventh Congressional District, should call on him to do just that.