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[CA Rep] Cunningham Leaving After Years of Deals
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Candidate
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Aug 04, 2005 04:26pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Aug 04, 2005 04:25pm |
| Description | By SETH HETTENA and ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 4, 2005; 5:17 PM
SAN DIEGO -- Even in a world that thrives on perks and friendly deals, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham has stood out.
The California Republican and Vietnam War flying ace wasn't a wealthy man when he arrived on Capitol Hill in 1991, but in recent years he has lived like one. His home in Washington was a rent-free yacht provided by a defense contractor. In San Diego, he bought a mansion using the profits from a home sold to the same contractor.
Cunningham, 63, is best known as an emotional lawmaker given to both teary-eyed speeches and flashes of temper. Now his relationship with defense contractor Mitchell Wade is being investigated by a grand jury here after raising eyebrows in Washington.
"It's got to be tempting to allow yourself to be flattered, buttered-up, helped, given favors and so forth," said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego. "It's hard to refuse them unless you very consciously recognize that it's one of the permanent ethical challenges of that life."
Cunningham's approach to such questions is now being questioned.
The former "Top Gun" flight instructor sold his home in the seaside community of Del Mar to Wade for a price that appears to have been inflated by about $700,000. He used the proceeds to move into a $2.55 million, seven-bath mansion in the exclusive San Diego County community of Rancho Santa Fe. |
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