Rep. Waxman asks White House for information on 2002 contract
Matthew Weigelt
March 27, 2007
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee, is asking the White House
for more information about a contract awarded in 2002 to MZM,
a technology consulting firm.
In a March 26 letter to White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten,
Waxman requested information, from e-mails to contract documents,
on a $140,000 contract between MZM and the Executive Office of the President.
...
Waxman wrote that "investigations have uncovered serious irregularities,
and in some cases criminal conduct, by MZM employees,
members of Congress and Bush administration officials relating
to MZM contracts with the federal government."
http://www.fcw.com/...
-----
Here's to hoping Senator Waxman
can just get to the Truth, without even more
delays and obstructions from this
"less than honest" Administration
Americans have a right to know
how elected officals are misusing their positions of authority,
at the expense of the Constitution, and the law.
The current Administration has been dismantling
America piece by piece, and the American People
have sat back and let them, all for the "sake of security".
Well do you really feel more Secure now?
It's way past time for the media to stand up
and taking back our country, piece by piece.
If they don't they risk becoming even less relevant,
than they have already become.
Here's a few leads for that rare citizen (or reporter?)
who may have finally grown tired of the Anna Nicole newsbeat:
================================
(Lead 1)
Pentagon Ends New Work On D.C. Firm's Contract
MZM to Name New CEO as Relationship
With Congressman Is Under Investigation
Renae Merle and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post
June 28, 2005
The Pentagon has ordered a halt in new work for MZM Inc.,
a local defense and intelligence firm, under a contract that has brought the company
$163 million in revenue during the past 2 1/2 years.
...
News reports earlier this month disclosed that Wade,
MZM's founder and president, bought Cunningham's
California home for $1.675 million in late 2003
and then sold it at a $700,000 loss.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
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(Lead 2)
Congressman Admits Taking Bribes, Resigns
GOP's Cunningham Faces Jail Term
Charles R. Babcock and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post
November 29, 2005
Prosecutors said Cunningham, an eight-term House member,
"demanded, sought and received" illicit payments in the form
of cash, home payments, furnishings, cars and vacations from four co-conspirators, including two defense contractors, over the past five years.
...
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) resigned from Congress
yesterday after tearfully confessing to evading taxes
and conspiring to pocket $2.4 million in bribes,
including a Rolls-Royce, a yacht and a 19th-century Louis-Philippe commode.
U.S. Attorney Carol C. Lam told reporters that Cunningham
"did the worst thing an elected official can do --
he enriched himself through his position and
violated the trust of those that put him there."
At a news conference after his conviction, a visibly shaken
Cunningham could barely read from his prepared statement
as he admitted: "I broke the law, concealed my conduct
and disgraced my high office.
The inquiry escalated in August and September,
with federal authorities conducting searches
of the homes and businesses of two other Cunningham friends --
Brent Wilkes and his California defense company, ADCS Inc.,
and Long Island businessman Thomas T. Kontogiannis.
Cunningham intervened for Wilkes's company
at the Pentagon in the late 1990s,
and Wilkes and ADCS have given the congressman numerous campaign contributions
Wade stepped down as head of MZM soon after the story broke.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
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(Lead 3)
Following Jack Abramoff’s Money Trail
Mitchell J. Wade - has a Navy Intelligence background,
and he started by working with Wilkes.
In September 2002, the General Services Administration
signed a blanket purchase agreement (no-bid contract) with MZM
totaling $250 million over five years.
Wade’s first contract for $140,000 was to supply office furniture
and computers for VP Cheney’s office.
MZM also gained a contract with the Army’s
National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) and two months later,
MZM hired the son of the NGIC executive director (William Scott Rich III).
Then, MZM got an even bigger NGIC contract.
NGIC is the group that said Iraq’s aluminum tubes
could be used for a centrifuge.
http://recoveringliberal.com/...
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(Lead 4)
NPR: How Prosecutor Lam's Case Was Handled
by Scott Horsley
March 18, 2007
May 11, 2006: Front-page story in the Los Angeles Times reports
that the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles is probing ties
between House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and lobbyist Bill Lowery, whose clients include
alleged Cunningham co-conspirator Brent Wilkes.
May 11, 2006: General Alberto Gonzales' Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson
e-mails a deputy in the White House Counsel's office asking to discuss,
"The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me
to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18,
the day her 4-year term expires."
May 12, 2006: FBI agents search the home and office of former
CIA Executive Director Kyle Foggo, best friend of alleged Cunningham
co-conspirator Brent Wilkes.
http://www.npr.org/...
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(Lead 5)
May 12, 2006
House Appropriations Chairman Is Facing Federal Investigation
Charles R. Babcock
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
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(Lead 6)
14 March 14 2007
Feinstein: Lam Fired Over Cunningham Prosecution
The Associated Press
Washington - Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday
she believes the ouster of San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam
was connected to Lam's prosecution of former Republican congressman
Randy "Duke" Cunningham, even though the Bush administration has denied it.
"The fact is there are additional investigations that have come from that.
The fact is that the day before she left office
she filed two additional indictments," Feinstein said,
referring to charges Lam filed last month against an ex-CIA official
and a defense contractor tied to Cunningham.
...
Lam, who is now working as a lawyer for San Diego-based
wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc., declined to comment Tuesday.
In testimony March 7 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she said she had never been told the reason she was told to resign last December.
Lam's office began investigating Cunningham and his associates
on bribery allegations in July 2005.
Cunningham pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March 2006
to more than eight years in federal prison for taking more than
$2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.
Last month, actually two days before Lam left her post,
her office obtained indictments of one of the defense contractors
and a former top CIA official accused of fraud
in the expanding corruption investigation.
http://www.truthout.org/...
-----
(Lead 7)
SAN DIEGO
Poway man, ex-CIA official indicted for fraud, more
WILLIAM FINN BENNETT and TERI FIGUEROA
February 14, 2007
The indictments came two days before San Diego U.S. Attorney
Carol Lam is set to step down.
...
The two indictments portray Wilkes as a man who
wined and dined Cunningham and Foggo with lavish gifts
and saw his company receive more than $100 million
in government defense contracts.
http://www.nctimes.com/...
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(Lead 8)
Taylor Marsh Blog
Carol Lam vs. The White House Gravy Train
03/26/2007
by Mash
So, the facts are a company (MZM) gets its first contract
from the White House, gets paid $140,000,
and two weeks later spends $140,000 to bribe Duke Cunningham,
and the very next month gets a $250 million dollar contract
from the Defense Department.
That kind of meteoric rise is unheard of in government contracting.
Add to that the fact that MZM was the only bidder
for a $250 million dollar contract from DOD,
and you have the makings of major corruption.
Anyone who has ever bid for a government contract,
especially a $250 million dollar contract
that was a full and open bid, knows that
everyone who is anyone in government contracting
would have bid for such a lucrative contract.
When the Pentagon noticed that they had handed out
such a large contract without a competitive bidding process,
they apparently stopped any new work on the contract.
That Pentagon decision, in June 2005, came the same week
that the relationship between Duke Cunningham and MZM became known
http://www.taylormarsh.com/...
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(Lead 9)
Is This the Smoking Gun?
Thursday, 22 March 2007
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/...
[Note: this source is unreliable per editorial guidelines]
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It's time for Americans to get "Mad as Hell"
and Demand the Truth again! No more free passes
just for the sake of expediency, please.
"Finding out the truth" about Monica and Bill was apparently
good enough for many back in the 90's --
and that had NOTHING to do with the Constitution!
What this Administration has been up to, appears to be much, much worse.
America deserves a Congress that demands Accountablity,
NOT a Congress that acts like a "rubber stamp" for this Administration.
(Thank goodness and thank the voters, "there's a 'new Congress' in town!")
I for one am tired of the "get away guys"
using the threat of terrorism to justify
all their nefarious ways.
Well do you really feel more Secure now,
after all the blatant abuses of power?
(anyone remember all those Executive "Signing Statements"?)
The "light of day" is best way
to chase down these scroundels, IMO. So good luck Waxman.
Please, Let's have No More Bush Cronies appointed to Government Positions
like they're qualified Experts or something,
when really their main qualification is that of being another "Bushie loyalist."
Those fired attorneys were replaced WITHOUT
Senate review or confirmation, thanks to the Patriot Act.
(a cloak of deceit that Clinton never had, BTW)
If the Media weren't such "Lap Dogs" for this Administration,
this little Patriot tactic would be commonly known
by the American people, as least as much as they know
who the latest Idol Winners are, and what Anna Nichole's
latest substance abuse history is.
The Free Press is not what it used to be.
but then again neither is the curiousity of the average American.
It's way past time for that to change too ...