Cunningham: Corrupt Politician Was a Slob, Too

Apparently, disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., should have used some of that bribery money on a housekeeper.

In his new book on the graft scandal that landed the former Navy pilot in jail, Associated Press reporter Seth Hettena describes the simultaneous raids the FBI executed at Cunningham’s Southern California home and

his yacht on the Potomac River on July 1, 2005.

According to Hettena, the agents who executed the warrants on the two residences were shocked at the unkempt state of the two properties.

At Cunningham’s $2.55 million Spanish-style mission in Rancho Santa Fe, FBI agent Lamont Siller “noticed snails on the outside stucco wall and spiderwebs no one bothered to brush away. It seemed to him as though the residents could not afford to maintain it properly.”

Inside, Hettena writes, “lamps, trash bags, boxes and rolled-up rugs covered the floor, and many walls were bare. An acoustic guitar lay, strings down, at the base of the stairs. An inordinate number of armoires were in the home, many of them completely empty.”

Laying out in the open on a desk was a letter from lobbyist Brent Wilkes referencing a trip they took to Hawaii — a trip during which prosecutors would later allege the two men hired prostitutes.

A similar scene greeted agents who raided Cunningham’s boat, the Duke-Stir. Accompanied by Scott
Schramm of the Capital Yacht Club, agents found the boat a “mess,” with papers, trash, wine and receipts scattered throughout.

His federal jail cell is, we would wager, quite a bit cleaner.