Another day, another Republican and another case of sleaze and corruption. This time, it's CA-52 Congressman Duncan Hunter. Like Randy "Duke" Cunningham, he has his face deep into the defense industry trough, according to
Raw Story.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has come under fire from constituents for
accepting nearly a quarter million dollars in campaign contributions from missile defense contractors over the past five years. Hunter has also drawn criticism for
accepting $46,000 from un-indicted co-conspirators implicated in bribing Hunter's friend and San Diego colleague, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned from Congress after pleading guilty.
But Hunter's ties to the defense industry go even deeper.
The Republican Congressman shares ownership in a Virginia cabin with Pete Geren - who served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Air Force from August through early November, RAW STORY has learned. Hunter's disclosure forms filed with the FEC indicate he built the cabin in 1996 along with Geren and a third partner, Al Tierney.
And just who is Pete Geren, you ask? Why don't we refresh your memory.
Geren replaced former Air Force Secretary James Roche, who resigned following a procurement scandal involving an Air Force officer
steering lucrative contracts to Boeing - a major Hunter contributor.
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During his brief tenure, Geren gained notoriety for being named in a lawsuit filed against the Air Force by Jewish cadets, who alleged that Christianity was illegally imposed at an Air Force academy.
Now, for a moment, lets go back over just how naughty Cunningham has been lately.
Scandals involving Boeing and the dubious tanker deal previously resulted in criminal conviction of two Boeing executives for illegally negotiating a job for an Air Force contracting officer who held sway over a multi-billion dollar contract sought by Boeing. Air Force acquisition official Darleen A. Druyun was also prosecuted and jailed. Geren has called Druyen's actions "shameful."
This June, after the scandal had died down, Hunter quietly attached an amendment to the military budget that would have eliminated Airbus from bidding on a future tanker, leaving Boeing the only available contractor for a deal that could be worth billions of dollars. The Chicago Tribune, which revealed Hunter's amendment, found his staunch support "especially noteworthy given Boeing's recent troubles."
In short, President George W. Bush replaced an Air Force Secretary who resigned over a Boeing procurement scandal with a temporary stand-in whose hunting pal and cabin-mate is the powerful Congressman pushing the same deal on Boeing's behalf.
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Hunter, who has held office for 25 years, has come under fire for other questionable defense deals. A Dec. 8 editorial titled "Legal Looting" in the conservative San Diego Union-Tribune criticized Hunter for helping defense contractors ADCS and AUDRE obtain $190 million in Pentagon contracts for "automated data conversion" projects. A 1994 General Accounting Office report noted that the Pentagon didn't want this "help," as it already had the tools for such work, the editorial noted.
But the Union-Tribune observed, "Cunningham, Hunter and their House allies didn't care. AUDRE and ADCS were generous with contributions--and ADCS executive Brent Wilkes was allegedly bribing Cunningham. No matter who griped, lawmakers could always add 'earmarks' for pet projects to bills and get their way. This led to such absurdities as a $9.7 million contract for ADCS to digitize historical documents from the Panama Canal Zone that the Pentagon considered insignificant."
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Over the past five years, Hunter and his Peace Through Strength PAC have raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars ($245,670) in donations from missile defense contractors alone--more than any other member of Congress except Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). Topping Hunter's list is Titan, with $40,825, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Titan has been implicated in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal; a Titan employee was photographed beside the infamous naked prisoner pyramid. Two pending lawsuits alleged that Titan employees were involved in torture of prisoners; Titan has denied the allegations.
Democratic leaders have accused Hunter of being the single biggest force blocking investigation into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal as well as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The article just goes on and on and on with Cunningham's misdeeds. In some ways, I think he could very well be more corrupt that even Tom Delay.
Voters will have an alternative in 2006. The primary will present California Democrats with Karen Otter and Jim Hester. I don't know either very well, but both are military vertans and community activists. Karen has even gone so far to to pledge no donations from defense contractors. I will be the first to admit it is a tough district, but maybe the people of Southern California are finally fed up with the culture of corruption.