Firm Tied to Convict Aided Rep. Cunningham

By SETH HETTENA

Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A company linked to a New York businessman who was convicted in a bid-rigging scheme helped Congressman Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham finance his Arlington, Va., condominium.

Coastal Capital financed the $150,000 mortgage on Cunningham's two-bedroom condominium, according to records on file with the Arlington, Va., Circuit Court. In 2003, Coastal Capital financed $1.1 million in mortgages toward the purchase of Cunningham's seven-bath home in Rancho Santa Fe.

Coastal Capital is run by the nephew and daughter of Thomas T. Kontogiannis, a Long Island developer who pleaded guilty in October 2002 in a bid-rigging, bribe and kickback scheme involving New York City school computer contracts worth millions of dollars.

A federal grand jury is investigating Cunningham's sale of a Del Mar, Calif., home in 2003 to a defense contractor at what may have been an inflated $1.675 million price. Mitchell J. Wade, founder of defense firm MZM Inc., sold the home nearly a year later for $975,000, losing $700,000. Cunningham also lived on Wade's 42-foot yacht, the Duke Stir, docked in Washington, D.C.

Cunningham, an eight-term Republican representing the San Diego area, is a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Cunningham's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, declined comment Friday on the condo sale. Earlier this week, Blalack said ``Duke's business dealings with Mr. Kontogiannis have been entirely proper.''

Kontogiannis did not respond to messages left Friday at his home and work. Earlier this week, Kontogiannis said he bought Cunningham's boat in 2002 and the congressman offered to help him explore getting a presidential pardon, putting him in touch with a Washington law firm and recommending lawyers to speak to.

Kontogiannis paid $600,000 for Cunningham's 65-foot flat-bottom riverboat, the Kelly C. Cunningham purchased the boat from a fellow congressman five years earlier for $200,000.

The Washington Post and Copley News Service disclosed the boat sale and Kontogiannis' financing of the Rancho Santa Fe house Tuesday, but not the aspect of Cunningham's Washington-area condominium.

Property records show Cunningham, a former ``Top Gun'' Navy fighter pilot, bought the 1,400-square-foot unit with a view of the Potomac River in 2002 for $350,000.

Cunningham paid $200,000 in cash for the condo and financed the rest with the mortgage, according to a source close to the congressman who spoke on condition of anonymity. Cunningham bought the condominium when his wife, Nancy, moved to Washington, D.C., for a job in the Bush administration, the source said.

Cunningham sold the condo in March 2004 for $500,000 and retired the mortgage a month later, records show. The buyer, Melanie Dziadulewicz, did not have an Arlington phone listing.

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Associated Press researcher Julie Reed contributed to this story.

Company linked to convicted developer financed Cunningham condo

SAN DIEGO A company linked to a New York businessman who was convicted in a bid-rigging scheme helped Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham finance his Arlington, Virginia, condominium.

Coastal Capital financed the 150-thousand dollar mortgage on Cunningham's two-bedroom condominium, according to court records. In 2003, Coastal Capital financed one-point-one (m) million dollars in mortgages toward the purchase of Cunningham's seven-bath home in Rancho Santa Fe outside San Diego.

Coastal Capital is run by the nephew and daughter of Thomas T. Kontogiannis, a Long Island developer who pleaded guilty in October 2002 in a bid-rigging, bribe and kickback scheme involving New York City school computer contracts worth millions of dollars. Kontogiannis bought Cunningham's boat, the Kelly C, in 2002.

A federal grand jury is investigating Cunningham's sale of a Del Mar, California, home in 2003 to a defense contractor at what may have been an inflated one-point-seven (m) million dollar price. Mitchell J. Wade, founder of defense firm MZM Inc., sold the home nearly a year later for 975-thousand, losing 700-thousand. Cunningham also lived on Wade's 42-foot yacht, the Duke Stir, docked in Washington.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press.

Bid to unseat DeLay gets advertised early

By KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Democrats have begun an orchestrated campaign to unseat Republican U.S. House members in next year's midterm elections — elections that are a year-and-a-half away.


Republicans say the ads, which were placed in six congressional districts across the country, aren't likely to catch anyone's attention.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, is the target of an ad running locally.

He hasn't started running any ads of his own, but an anti-tax group ran television ads in May, defending DeLay and likening the media and their reporting on him to sharks in a feeding frenzy.

The Democratic print ads that ran this week say: "What's Happened to Tom DeLay?"

"Twenty-one years ago, we sent Tom DeLay to Washington to work on things Texans care about: more jobs, affordable health care, a secure retirement.

"Now, Tom DeLay's work in Congress is generating headlines ... on his ties to lobbyists, his foreign trips and his questionable fundraising.

"We knew Tom DeLay would leave Texas to work in Washington, We didn't know he'd leave behind his Texas values."

It ran in the Fort Bend Sun, a free weekly newspaper.


Ads question ethics
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $36,000 on that ad and five others, a small sum by the standards of 21st century campaign finance. The print ads question the ethics of six House Republicans.

The ads are similar in tone and style, essentially filling in blanks with the name of the congressman targeted and vague references to his particular situation.

Among them is California Rep. Randy Cunningham, who is under investigation by a grand jury looking into his ties with a military contractor.

Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he doesn't expect the ads to resonate.

"The ads are intended to make headlines and not sway voters," he said.

"One day of ads in July, when people are concerned more about vacations than elections that are 16 months away, is useless."


A constant campaign
Richard Morrison, who took 41 percent of the vote as a 2004 Democratic candidate against DeLay in the 22nd District but decided not to run next year, argues that campaigns are year-round.

"DeLay raises money every day of the year and has his own message machine," said Morrison, who unveiled the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad in Houston on Wednesday.

"To tell people about his true character, you have to start early.

"He has become the person he once railed against — the Washington insider. He's become the person he got elected to go up and fight."


Smear tactics alleged
DeLay spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty said Democrats are relying on a strategy of smear tactics.

"Absent an agenda, partisan Democrats will always resort to angry, personal attacks," she said.

"Texans deserve more than these desperate political antics from a party that would rather gripe than govern."

DeLay won the 2004 general election with 55 percent of the vote against Morrison and two other candidates.

His only 2006 challenger so far is former Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, who served four terms in the House before his Southeast Texas district was redrawn to elect a Republican in redistricting engineered by DeLay.

Lampson, who represented 20 percent of what is now the 22nd District, has said he is hoping for a little poetic justice.