Contractor pleads guilty in Cunningham case
Fri Feb 24, 2006
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense contractor Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty on
Friday to bribing former (Republican) congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham
and illegally funneling money to two other lawmakers, a court official said.
According to charges against him, Wade gave hundreds of thousands of dollars
in cash and gifts to Cunningham, an eight-term congressman from California
and decorated Vietnam War pilot.
Cunningham resigned in November after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million
in bribes in exchange for help in securing Defense Department contracts and
faces up to 10 years in prison. His case is one of a number of scandals that
have shaken senior Republicans in Congress.
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http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-02-24T183415Z_01_N249151_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-CUNNINGHAM-PLEA.xml
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In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of
misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and
knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial
and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so
that security and liberty may prosper together.
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
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