A raid by federal agents of the home of U.S. representative Randall Cunningham in an exclusive suburb north of San Diego, California, led to Cunningham’s resignation from Congress and to his criminal conviction for bribery, mail and wire fraud, and income tax evasion. He pleaded guilty to accepting bribes amounting to at least $2.4 million from several defense contractors. He was sent to prison for eight years and four months, the longest prison sentence ever for a former member of Congress.
Political corruption in pursuit of economic gain is nothing new in U.S. politics, but few have carried it to the lengths of U.S. representative Randall Cunningham of California. Duke, as he was known to admirers and critics, received more than two million dollars in bribes from persons hoping to receive lucrative government contracts, the largest bribery amount in congressional history. The money allowed him and his wife to acquire a home in exclusive Rancho Santa Fe in northern San Diego County, California, as well as fine artworks, luxury automobiles, and a yacht in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River for Cunningham’s personal use.
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Fresno, California, and Shelbina, Missouri, Cunningham was one of the authentic aviation heroes of the
Narrowly elected to the U.S. Congress in 1990 from a previously Democratic district, Cunningham immediately received adulation and recognition because of his heroic exploits in
As a member of the Appropriations Education Subcommittee, Cunningham was able to increase federal funds to public schools in San Diego. His voting record was predictably conservative, attacking President Bill Clinton for a lack of patriotism and for appointing judges who were supposedly soft on crime. Cunningham favored the death penalty for major drug dealers, opposed the move to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, and accused his Democratic opponents of being socialists. Interestingly, he received the designation “conservation hero” from the Audubon Society for his role in banning shark finning, or the removal of shark fins, and dumping the often still-living sharks back into the sea.
Cunningham began to use the power of his congressional position for his own benefit beginning during the mid-1990’s, and initially on a fairly small scale. Brent Wilkes, head of ADCS, Inc., a San Diego defense firm, provided Cunningham with limousine service, free meals, the use of a fourteen-foot motorboat, and occasional payments of $500. In turn, the Congress member earmarked millions of dollars for Wilkes’s businesses, including a $20 million document-digitization system. Other defense contractors also benefited from Cunningham’s endeavors, particularly after the terrorist attacks of
Mitchell Wade was one of those defense contractors. He provided Cunningham with private jets for holidays and shopping trips, a condominium, antiques, and a Rolls Royce. Cunningham also had the use of a yacht on Washington, D.C.’s Potomac River, where he lived when Congress was in session, paying nothing and reportedly entertaining prostitutes. Because of his influence, which included the bullying of Pentagon officials, Wade’s company, MZM, was awarded numerous government contracts, including a noncompetitive $250 million five-year contract in 2002. Wilkes provided Cunningham with $600 prostitutes on a trip to Hawaii.
By 2003, Cunningham’s material appetites had increased significantly. Wade purchased Cunningham’s residence in Del Mar Heights for $1.675 million, well over its market value, allowing the Congress member to purchase a $2.55 million, 8,000-square-foot home in Rancho Santa Fe, a luxury community twenty-five miles north of San Diego. Several months later, Wade sold the Del Mar Heights property for $975,000, taking a $700,000 loss on what he paid to Cunningham, in essence a bribe for the Congress member. The mortgage on the new home was paid off by defense contractors in the amount of $1.25 million. It is estimated that the various bribes to Cunningham totaled approximately $3 million, making him, according to one source, the most corrupt Congressman in U.S. history, measured in monetary terms.
In early 2005, a federal grand jury, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Internal Revenue
A few days before the raids, Cunningham stated that he had used poor judgment when he sold his Del Mar Heights home to Wade, that he had paid $13,000 for docking fees and other expenses connected to his use of Wade’s yacht, and that he had never provided any illegal aid to the defense contractor. It also was reported that two weeks before the raids, officials at MZM shredded numerous documents.
On July 14, several days after the raid on his home, Cunningham announced that he would not run for reelection and that he and his wife would sell their Rancho Santa Fe home and donate the profits to charity. In a plea bargain agreement on November 27, Cunningham resigned his seat in Congress and pleaded guilty to accepting bribes amounting to at least $2.4 million from several defense contractors, as well as to mail and wire fraud and
Several months later, on March 2, 2006, Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison. Sixty-four years old and suffering from prostate problems, he was spared the ten-year term requested by prosecutors, in part because of his military record. Nevertheless, the sentence was one of the longest ever meted out to a former Congressman. After medical examinations, Cunningham was incarcerated in the minimum-security federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. Reporters from the San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service shared a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Cunningham scandal.
Wade, named as the principal coconspirator, pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including giving Cunningham $1 million in bribes. Wade agreed to testify against Wilkes, who was convicted of bribery in November, 2007, and sentenced to twelve years in prison. In addition to Wade and Wilkes, Long Island businessman Thomas Kontogiannis also was investigated for his role in arranging a second mortgage for Cunningham on the home in Rancho Santa Fe. Kontogiannis was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2008 for
Other scandals surfaced at the time as well. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas resigned as a result of his connection with the Jack Abramoff bribery affair, and California Congressman Jerry Lewis, one-time head of the House Appropriations Committee, also was investigated for his connections to Cunningham. However, Cunningham’s criminal acts were more egregious and blatant.
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Bachrach, Judy. “Washington Babylon.” Vanity Fair, August, 2006. Provides considerable background about Wilkes, Wade, and Foggo and their involvement in the Cunningham affair. -
Cunningham, Randy, and Jeffrey L. Ethell. Fox Two: The Story of America’s First Ace in Vietnam. 1984. New ed. New York: Warner Books, 1989. Cunningham’s own dramatic account of his air-combat exploits in Vietnam, written with the assistance of a noted author who specializes in writing about military air power. -
Hettena, Seth. Feasting on the Spoils: The Life and Times of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, History’s Most Corrupt Congressman. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007. A comprehensive journalistic expose of Cunningham’s misdeeds, including those of the other major characters in the scandal. -
Stern, Marcus, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreath, and George E. Condon, Jr. The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught. New York: PublicAffairs, 2007. An analysis by the team of reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for their investigations into Cunningham’s bribery and fraud.
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