Ex-congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham's bribes put on display

- By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's bribes took up a small corner of a dimly-lit industrial warehouse.

For Cunningham, who formally resigned in disgrace Tuesday, bribes came as French antique dressers with burled walnut fronts and marble tops. Huge hand-woven Persian carpets covered the concrete floor, including one that stretched more than 30 feet and had a $5,500 price tag still attached. A sleigh-style bed lay in pieces.


Federal agents gave local reporters a peek Tuesday at the 40 or so pieces of furniture that were among $2.4 million in bribes that the ex-Vietnam fighter pilot ace admitted receiving from defense contractors and others in exchange for government business and other favors.


Cunningham agreed to forfeit the furnishings from his San Diego-area mansion, along with the mansion itself and $1.8 million cash when he pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to charges of conspiracy and income tax evasion under a deal with prosecutors that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.


The 63-year-old Republican's letter of resignation was read on the House floor Tuesday. Cunningham said he discredited both his office and his party and apologized to his colleagues for the shame he brought to Congress.


"Not only have I compromised the trust of my constituents, I have misled my family, friends, colleagues, staff and even myself," he wrote.


In a warehouse in the San Diego suburb of Poway, camera shutters clicked as appraiser Dave McPheeters peered into dresser drawers, jotted notes on a yellow legal pad and measured the size of Cunningham's carpets.


"Very nice hand-selected pieces," McPheeters remarked. "The condition is good."


Much of it was bought for Cunningham by defense contractor Mitchell Wade. According to Cunningham's plea agreement, Wade spent more than $90,000 to satisfy the swaggering former "Top Gun" flight instructor's taste in antique armoires, nightstands, washstands, silver-plated candelabras and custom oak and leaded glass doors.


Cunningham also sold his home in the seaside community of Del Mar to Wade in 2003 for a price 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. Copley News Service's disclosure of the home sale triggered the federal investigation that led to Cunningham's downfall.


His furnishings will be sold at an auction and the proceeds will go into the Treasury Asset Forfeiture Fund to support future law enforcement operations, said Tami L. Stine, a spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service. Stine said the auction will probably take place in the spring, but a date won't be set until the auction is complete.


Agents from the IRS, FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service who investigated the former congressman milled about the warehouse. It was their moment.


"This is a culmination of their hard work," Stine said.