Duke Cunningham

For the United States football player, see Randall Cunningham.

Randy "Duke" Cunningham speaking January 2005

Randall Harold Cunningham (born December 8, 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 50th Congressional District. He served from 1991 to 2005.

Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28, 2005 after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. The guilty plea constituted an admission for receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes and underreporting his year 2004 income. On March 3, 2006, Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution. "I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong. I did that, sir," Cunningham said.

A special election to fill the vacancy left by Cunningham is scheduled for April 11, 2006.

Family

Cunningham was born in Los Angeles to Randall and Lela Cunningham, who both moved there from Oklahoma during the Depression. His father was a Union Oil Station Attendant. His father's family moved to Fresno, California then to rural Shelbina, Missouri when he was 12. In Shelbina, he loved to hunt pheasant and deer with his father and graduated from high school.

Cunningham married his first wife, Susan Albrecht in 1965; they met in college and had one adopted son, Todd. Susan filed for divorce and a restraining order in January of 1973 based on her claims of emotional abuse, and the divorce was granted nine months later.

At this point, his life hit "rock-bottom", according to Cunningham. In 1973 he met Dan McKinnon, a publisher and son of former Congressman Clinton D. McKinnon. Dan McKinnon encouraged him to turn his life around, and Cunningham became a born-again Christian. .

Cunningham met his second wife, Nancy D. Jones, at the Miramar Officer's Club and they were married February 16, 1974. Nancy was born in 1952 and is also previously-married. In 1976, she filed for divorce and a restraining order, stating that he "is a very aggressive spontaneously assaultive person, and I fear for my immediate physical safety and well being." Nancy later had a change of heart, so at her request, the court dismissed the divorce in January 1977. Nancy's declaration justifying the restraining order has been sealed by court order since 1990, when Duke first ran for congress. They have two daughters, April and Carrie. Dr. Nancy Cunningham is an educator for the Encinitas school district .

Military service

After receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri in 1964 and 1965, Cunningham spent a year as a high school swimming coach in Hinsdale, Illinois before joining the United States Navy in 1966.

During his service, Cunningham became the first Navy ace in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom from aboard aircraft carriers, and recording five confirmed kills, making him one of two U.S. pilots to "ace" in that war. He allegedly downed Col. Nguyen Toon, but Col. Toon has turned out to be a mythical Vietnamese fighter ace, who flew a MiG-17 against him. Cunningham was reportedly almost court-martialed while still in flight school for breaking into an office to compare his records with those of his colleagues—a charge denied by Cunningham, but supported by two of his superior officers at the time . Regardless of the controversy, there was little doubt about Cunningham's piloting abilities. He was one of the most highly decorated U.S. Navy pilots in the Vietnam War, recieving the Navy Cross once, the Silver Star twice, the Air Medal 15 times, and the Purple Heart for wounds he received under enemy fire.

After returning from Vietnam in 1972, he became an instructor at the Navy's TOPGUN school for fighter pilots at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Cunningham says many of his real-life experiences in combat and as an instructor were depicted in the popular 1986 movie Top Gun , although the movie's producer says it was not based on any specific aviator .

Cummingham was a commentator on the History Channel program "Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles", in the Vietnam War segment, where he discussed his experiences as a fighter pilot.

In 1985 Cunningham earned an MBA from National University, a San Diego night school. He retired from the Navy in 1987 as a commander, settling in Del Mar, a suburb of San Diego. However, success eluded him in business or teaching. He became nationally known as a CNN commentator on naval aircraft in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War.

Political career

Cunningham's visibility as a CNN commentator led several Republican leaders to approach him about running in what was then the 44th District, one of four that divided San Diego. The district had been held for eight years by Democrat Jim Bates, and was considered the most Democratic district in the San Diego area. However, Bates was bogged down in a scandal involving charges of sexual harassment. Cunningham won the Republican nomination in 1990 and hammered Bates about the scandal, promising to be "a congressman we can be proud of." He won by just one percentage point, meaning that the San Diego area was represented entirely by Republicans for only the second time since the city was split into two districts after the 1960 census.

Congressional freshmen usually don't get much media attention outside of their home districts or states, but Cunningham's status as a Vietnam War hero made him an exception. He was widely admired for his special knowledge of the armed forces, and played an important role in the debate on whether to use military force to make Iraq end its occupation of Kuwait . Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Cunningham had considerable "drawing power" and was treated as a celebrity by his fellow Republicans .

After the 1990 census, the district was renumbered the 51st District, and much of its share of San Diego was moved to the new 50th District. At the same time, the district added several areas of heavily Republican North San Diego County. In the 1992 Republican primary, Cunningham faced Bill Lowery, who had represented most of the other side of San Diego for the past 12 years before his home had been drawn out of his old district and into Cunningham's district. However, Lowery had been caught in the House banking scandal. Repeating his 1990 promise to be "a congressman we can be proud of," Cunningham easily defeated Lowery in the primary, which was tantamount to election in the redrawn district. While the district, which was renumbered the 50th after the 2000 census, is not as Republican as the other two Republican-leaning districts in the San Diego area, Cunningham was reelected six times by margins of 55 percent or more of the vote.

He was a member of the Appropriations and Intelligence committees, and chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence during the 109th Congress. He was considered a leading Republican expert on national security issues. He was also a champion of education, using his position on the Appropriations Education Subcommittee to steer federal dollars to schools in San Diego. After surgery for prostate cancer in 1998, he became a champion of early testing for the disease.

Cunningham was known for making intemperate outbursts. Some examples are:

• Making an inappropriate comment about Congressman Barney Frank, where he equated a medical procedure to screen for prostate cancer with Frank's sexual orientation .
• Flipping off a constituent and "for emphasis, shouted the two-word meaning of his one-finger salute" .
• Suggesting that the Democratic House leadership should be "lined up and shot"—a call he'd previously made about Vietnam War protesters .
• referring to gay soldiers as "homos" .
• Getting in a shoving match with Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) over sending troops to Bosnia. After Cunningham fled, Moran found him crying in the cloakroom.

While Cunningham said that "I cut my own rudder" on issues , he had a very conservative voting record . He is often compared by liberal interest groups to former congressman Bob Dornan, with some justification; both are ardent conservatives, both are former military pilots, and both have become infamous for outbursts against perceived enemies. In 1992, Cunningham, along with Dornan and fellow San Diego Republican Duncan Hunter, challenged the patriotism of then-Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton before a near-empty House chamber .

In September 1996 Cunningham attacked President Clinton for appointing "soft on crime" judges. "We must get tough on drug dealers," he said. "Those who peddle destruction on our children must pay dearly." He favored stiff drug penalties and voted for the death penalty for major drug dealers. Four months later, his son Todd was arrested for helping to transport 400 pounds (181 kg) of marijuana from Massachusetts to California. At his son's sentencing hearing, Cunningham fought back tears as he begged the judge for leniency (Todd was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, in part because he tested positive for cocaine three times while on bail). Cunningham's press secretary responded to accusations of double standards with: "The sentence Todd got had nothing to do with who Duke is. Duke has always been tough on drugs and remains tough on drugs."

In the Washingtonian feature "Best & Worst of Congress" of 2004, Cunningham was rated (along with four other House members) as "No Rocket Scientist" by a bipartisan survey of Congressional staff .

Legislative achievements

Cunningham was the lead sponsor of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which banned the practice of shark finning in all US waters and pushed America to the lead on efforts to ban shark finning worldwide. For his efforts Cunningham was named Conservation hero by the Audubon Society, and the Ocean Wildlife Campaign.

Cunningham co-sponsored, along with John Murtha (D-PA), the so-called "Flag Desecration Amendment", which would add the following sentence to the Constitution of the United States

"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United States."

The proposed amendment has passed the House many times, but narrowly missed the requisite 2/3 majority vote for passage in the Senate.

Scandals and corruption

Allegations Arise

Photo of a document submitted as evidence by the prosecution and included in their Feb. 2006 sentencing memorandum against Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The prosecution alleges that Cunningham wrote the original document on his Congressional office stationery for the benefit of "co-conspirator #2" (defense contractor Mitchell Wade). The document relates the costs of bribes to their payoffs. The left column represents the amount (in millions) of government military contracts to be awarded, and the right column represents the costs of the bribes (in thousands of dollars) required to secure those contracts. (The figure in each row's right column is relative to the row above and represents additional bribe money; for example, $50,000 would mean the difference between $18 million and $19 million of awarded contracts.) "BT" is an abbreviation for "boat"- making reference to a yacht owned by Wade with an estimated valuation of $140,000, noted as "140" to the right. Once it came into his possession, Cunningham named this boat the "Duke-stir".

In June 2005 it was revealed that a defense contractor, Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense contracting firm MZM Inc. (since renamed Athena Innovative Solutions Inc.), had bought Cunningham's house in Del Mar for $1,675,000. A month later, Wade placed it back on the market where it remained unsold for 8 months until the price was reduced to $975,000. Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; soon after the purchase, Wade began to receive tens of millions of dollars worth of defense and intelligence contracts. Cunningham claimed the deal was legitimate, adding, "I feel very confident that I haven't done anything wrong" .

Later in June, it was further reported that Cunningham lived in a yacht while he was in Washington that was owned by Wade, paying only for maintenance . It is said Cunningham liked to invite women to his yacht. Two of them said that he would change into pajama bottoms and a turtleneck sweater to entertain them with chilled champagne by the light of his favorite lava lamp . The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation regarding the real estate transaction. His home as well as MZM Corporate Offices and Wade's home were all simultaneously raided by a number of federal agencies with warrants on July 1, 2005 .

Besides Wade, the three other co-conspirators are: Brent Wilkes, founder of San Diego-based ADCS Inc.; New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis (whom U.S. Coast Guard records show was involved in a questionable boat deal with Cunningham); and John T. Michael, Kontogiannis' nephew (the owner of a New York-based mortgage company Coastal Capital Corp. Property records show the company made $1.15 million in real estate loans to Cunningham, two of which were used in the purchase of his Rancho Santa Fe mansion. Court records show that Wade paid off one of those loans).

In 1997, Cunningham bullied the Pentagon into buying a $20 million document-digitization system created by ADCS Inc., a company owned by San Diego businessman Brent Wilkes. Wilkes owned several companies with ties to the defense industry. The Pentagon didn't want the system and preferred to use the money for other purposes. When it hadn't implemented the system three years later, Cunningham went ballistic at a Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. He demanded the firing of Lou Kratz, an assistant undersecretary of defense he held responsible for the delays. While this appeared to be another typical Cunningham outburst, it later emerged that Wilkes reportedly gave Cunningham more than $630,000 in cash and favors .

Cunningham was also criticized for selling merchandise on his personal website, since disabled, such as a $595 buck knife featuring the official Congressional seal. However, he never obtained permission to use the seal, which is a federal offense .

Plea agreement

On November 28, 2005, Cunningham pled guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud at the San Diego Federal District court. The house sale at an inflated price, the free use of the yacht, a used Rolls-Royce, antique furniture, Persian rugs, jewelry, and a $2,000 contribution for his daughter's college graduation party were only a few of the numerous bribes that Cunningham admitted taking.

As part of his guilty plea, Cunningham forfeited his home in Rancho Santa Fe, which he bought with the proceeds of the sale of his previous home to Wade. Wade and others had even paid off Cunningham's mortgage on the balance. He will also forfeit more than $1.8 million in cash, antiques and rugs. Cunningham had tried to sell his new house, but federal prosecutors moved to block the sale after finding evidence that he bought it with Wade's money. Cunningham's attorney, Mark Holscher, later said that the government's evidence was so overwhelming that he had no choice but to recommend a guilty plea . With the plea bargain, Cunningham faced a maximum of 10 years. Had he tried to fight the charges, Cunningham would have risked spending the rest of his life in prison.

Resignation

Cunningham announced his resignation at a press conference just after entering his plea. He submitted his official resignation letter to the Clerk of the House and to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on December 6 . Had Cunningham declined to resign, his role in Congress would have been very limited, as House rules do not allow members convicted of felonies to vote or participate in committee work pending an investigation by the Ethics Committee. It is very likely that he would have been expelled from the House, as happened with Democrat James Traficant three years earlier. Under Republican caucus rules, he would have lost his subcommittee chairmanship .

In marked contrast to his defiant stand earlier in the year, Cunningham was very contrite, sullen and overcome by emotion when he read his prepared statement announcing that he was stepping down:

"When I announced several months ago that I would not seek re-election, I publicly declared my innocence because I was not strong enough to face the truth. So, I misled my family, staff, friends, colleagues, the public—even myself. For all of this, I am deeply sorry. The truth is—I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my high office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, and most importantly, the trust of my friends and family. ... In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame. I learned in Viet Nam that the true measure of a man is how he responds to adversity. I cannot undo what I have done. But I can atone. I am now almost 65 years old and, as I enter the twilight of my life, I intend to use the remaining time that God grants me to make amends" .

Despite his guilty plea, Cunningham may still receive a pension for his 21 years of service in the Navy and almost 15 years in Congress. While federal law only allows the government to strip pensions from federal employees guilty of treason, perjury or trading secrets with the enemy, San Diego benefits expert Robert Goldstein told the San Diego Union-Tribune that it is possible the government could still try to take the money from Cunningham .

Reactions

Local

Darrell Issa, a Republican who represents the neighboring 49th District, said after Cunningham's plea that he'd been waiting for Cunningham to explain his behavior "in a way that made sense to us" and that Cunningham's behavior "fell below the standard the public demands of its elected representatives" . Duncan Hunter, the other Republican who represents San Diego County, said on November 30 that he and Cunningham spent the rest of November 28 in prayer and that Cunningham wanted to "serve those who are suffering (and) to begin his long road of atonement" for his crimes . Many of Cunningham's staffers were stunned at the extent of their boss's crimes .

Union-Tribune columnist George Condon suggested in a December 1 column that Cunningham's actions "may have put ... troops at greater risk by judging contracts more for what they would do for him than for the military" .

Francine Busby, Cunningham's Democratic challenger in 2004 and a Democratic candidate for the 50th District in the upcoming special election to fill Cunningham's vacancy, called November 28th "a sad day for the people" and called for support for her proposed ethics reform bill, the "Clean House Act", saying "Our government in Washington is broken" .

National

In an editorial on November 29, the Washington Post called the Cunningham affair "the most brazen bribery conspiracy in modern congressional history" . Later that day, President George W. Bush called Cunningham's actions "outrageous" at a press briefing in El Paso. He also said that Cunningham should "pay a serious price" for his crimes . House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a December 6 statement that Cunningham was a "war hero," but that he broke "the public trust he has built through his military and congressional career" . Several of Cunningham's former colleagues have donated to charity campaign contributions he had given them .

On February 9, 2006, Senator John Kerry introduced a bill to prevent lawmakers who have been convicted of official misconduct from collecting taxpayer funded pensions. Officially the bill is named the "Federal Pension Forfeiture Act", but unofficially it has been dubbed the "Duke Cunningham Act" , .

Sentencing

On March 3, 2006, U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns sentenced Cunningham to 100 months (eight years and four months) in prison . Federal prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence of ten years, but Cunningham's defense lawyers said that at 64 years old and with prostate cancer, Cunningham would likely die in prison if he received the full sentence . Judge Burns cited his military service in Vietnam as the reason the full ten years was not imposed. Prosecutors announced that they were satisfied with the sentence, the longest ever given to a former member of congress .

On the day of sentencing, Cunningham was 90 pounds (41 Kg) lighter than when allegations first surfaced 9 months earlier. After receiving his sentence, Cunningham made a request to see his 91-year-old mother one last time before going to prison. The request was denied, as Judge Burns remanded him immediately upon rendering the sentence.

More fallout

Almost as soon as Cunningham pled guilty, Intelligence Committee chairman Pete Hoekstra of Michigan (who, ironically, represents Guy Vander Jagt's former district) announced his panel would investigate whether Cunningham used his post on that committee to steer contracts to favored companies. Hoekstra said that Cunningham "no longer gets the benefit of the doubt" due to his admission to "very, very serious" crimes. "We need to look at worst-case scenarios," he added. He also shut off Cunningham's access to classified information. While Hoekstra doesn't believe that Cunningham improperly influenced the Intelligence Committee's work, a committee spokesman said that he wanted to make sure its work stayed on the level .

Bill Young of Florida, chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and former chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, said that he plans to review Cunningham's requests for defense projects. While he felt most of the requests were legitimate and supported by the Pentagon, he said that he needed to be "doubly sure that anything shaky is not going to stay in" .

On December 14, prosecutors in former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's money laundering trial revealed that they are looking into ties between Wilkes and DeLay. One of Wilkes' companies donated $15,000 to DeLay's PAC, Texans for a Republican Majority. Wilkes also hired a consulting firm that employed DeLay's wife, Christine .

On January 6, 2006, Time reported that Cunningham cooperated with law enforcement by wearing a concealed recording device (a "wire") while meeting with associates prior to his guilty plea. It is not known whom he met with while wired, but there is speculation Cunningham's misdeeds were not isolated instances and his case could reveal a larger web of corruption .

On February 24, 2006, Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty to paying Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for millions more in government contracts.

In March, it was revealed that CIA officials have opened an investigation into the CIA's No.3 official, Kyle Foggo, and his relationship with Wilkes, "one of his closest friends," according to the article. Foggo has said that all of the contracts he oversaw were properly awarded and administered.

External links

• The San Diego Union-Tribune's coverage of the Cunningham scandal
• Unauthorized Randy Cunningham Page
• PAC donors, Indiv donors, Personal Financial Disclosures, Campaign Disburseents at PoliticalMoneyLine
• List of contributors to Cunningham's campaigns
• Archive of Cunningham's commerce website, topguninc.com (deactivated June 2005)
• Congressman's career buried by blizzard of questions on actions San Diego Union-Tribune, July 15, 2005
• Prosecutor's allegations against Cunningham
• Plea agreement (November 23, 2005)
• Cunningham's resignation statement (Union-Tribune, November 28, 2005)
• Duke Cunningham: First and Last Surrender (FlashReport, November 30, 2005)
• DeLay's prosecutors dig deeper into California