Just when you thought the level of corruption in the Republican Party could not get any worse, another prominent right-wing GOP fanatic steps up to the plate to show that it is not just Tom Delay who has the stench of corruption all over him.
U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Escondido, it has been revealed, has taken part in a bribe of such proportions that jail time is certainly not out of the question. It has been revealed that Duke sold his home at way above market value to a defense contractor who has defense contract business before Duke's committes. Not only did the defense contractor pay a way inflated price, site unseen, he re-listed the house a month later and sold it at a $700,000 loss. It is no surprise that shortly thereafter the defense contractor received lucrative Government contracts with Duke's help.
In laymens terms, this is a bribe plain and simple. The disguised transaction makes the deception even more egregious and hard to deny. Duke was on the House floor Monday and two reporters put in requests to speak with him during or after Mondays votes, he left without speaking with the reporters or answering questions on his ties to a Washington defense contractor. US Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, defended his Republican colleague and said Cunningham is an honest man. In his opinion, Issa said, the real story is how the real estate agent who suggested the $1.675 million sales price of the home came up with those figures.
Issa also questioned why the man who runs a multimillion-dollar defense company paid higher than market value for the house without getting an independent appraisal, then sold it for below market value.
To respond to Issa, the obvious reason a man who runs a multimillion-dollar defense company paid higher than market value for the house is because he bribed Duke. Likely more will come of this investigation but it provides yet another example of Republican abuse of power, corruption, and cover ups by GOP cronies all too quick to endorse criminality when it is carried out by the GOP. It is starting to look like it is not just Tom Delay who is a cancer on this country but the entire Republican party.