Members of Congress are racing to get out of Washington for the August recess, but they can’t run fast enough to be able to escape the political heat from Washington’s summer of corruption.
Nearly half a dozen ethics inquiries — some full-blown investigations into criminal conduct and others still only questions over personal connections — have been publicly identified. Experts tracking the issue have told The Examiner there could be more than a dozen indictments from the Jack Abramoff case alone. What follows is a summary of the major cases so far.
An independent investigation revealed this week that former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., used the secrecy surrounding classified appropriations bills to conceal how he steered tens of millions in federal contracts to favored firms.
Cunningham, who accepted $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for his efforts, was a member of the House Appropriations Committee. An independent investigator hired by the committee found he harassed staffers with security clearances to access the legislation into letting his projects through. The findings may lead to changes in how classified spending legislation is handled.
Cunningham pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. In February, Mitchell Wade, the owner of one of the firms that Cunningham aided — MZM Inc. — pleaded guilty to bribery.
Wade and employee Richard Berglund gave hundreds of thousands to other lawmakers, including Republican Reps. Virgil Goode of Virginia and Katherine Harris of Florida.
Bergland pleaded guilty Friday to illegally reimbursing employees for their campaign donations to Goode. Goode gave some $88,000 in donations linked to MZM to charity last year.
Wade told authorities he gave $32,000 in illegal contributions to Harris, a Senate hopeful this year. The Department of Justice requested information related to Wade from the office in May and has questioned aides including Harris’ former political strategist Ed Rollins, The Examiner has confirmed with a source close to the investigation.
Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks said the congresswoman would not have accepted the contributions if she had known they were illegal and has since donated the same amount to charity. Reports that Rollins is providing information to the Justice Department are not new, she added, and Harris encourages his cooperation.
“The congresswoman looks forward to a quick resolution of the matter,” said Marks, “as she has much work to do for the people of Florida.”
The investigation into former super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff is now in its second year, with no end in sight. Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials and is cooperating with prosecutors. Former Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas resigned from Congress in April, in part because of questions about his connections to Abramoff.
Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon, two former DeLay aides who became lobbyists with Abramoff, pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges and are now cooperating with investigators. Another DeLay aide turned lobbyist is mentioned repeatedly in Rudy’s agreement — in one case passing through payments for consulting to Rudy’s wife. No action, as yet, has been taken regarding that aide.
But aides are not the only ones snarled in the scandal. David Safavian, an employee with the General Services Administration, was found guilty in June of lying to investigators about Abramoff’s machinations to get control of the Old Post Office building in Northwest Washington.
Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, noted for his connections to Abramoff and one of the few members of Congress officially under investigation by the House ethics committee, is frequently mentioned as being at risk for indictment. The possibility he could be charged was underscored in May when his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to corrupt a public official.
Also under investigation by the ethics committee, though in a separate case, is Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. He was caught on tape allegedly taking a $100,000 payoff — and then some $90,000 of the marked bills turned up in his freezer. The money was allegedly for Atiku Abubakar, vice president of Nigeria, as an incentive to help a U.S. firm, iGate Inc., break into that nation’s Internet and cable television market.
Last month, colleagues voted to suspend Jefferson from the powerful House Ways and Means Committee during the investigation. Though Jefferson is still running for reelection, his campaign coffers are thin, according to the Times-Picayune. He reportedly has only about a third of the roughly $1 million he has spent in previous, easily won elections.
Two men have pleaded guilty so far to bribing the congressman. Vernon Jackson, the president of iGate, admitted to paying Jefferson more than $400,000 and is to be sentenced this week.
Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aide, pleaded guilty in January to bribery-related charges and was sentenced to eight years. Both are cooperating with the continuing investigation.
Still other investigations are reportedly underway. Investigators are looking at the ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and the firm of Copeland Lowery, employer of lobbyist and former California Congressman Bill Lowery. A number of Lowery clients have been subpoenaed. The finances of Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., are reportedly being scrutinized over tens of millions of dollars in earmarks he arranged that benefited nonprofits.
Staff writer Bill Myers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
