K Street Conservatism
Contractor 'knew how to grease the wheels'
Interesting lil spinoff of the Duke Cunning-scam that threatens to break some news down the road:
But what landed [military contractor Brent] Wilkes in trouble with federal prosecutors was his gifts to Cunningham. According to Cunningham's plea agreement, "Co-conspirator No. 1," gave $525,000 to Cunningham on May 13, 2004, to pay off the second mortgage on Cunningham's home in Rancho Santa Fe.Co-conspirator No. 1 also gave $100,000 to Cunningham on May 1, 2000, which went into Cunningham's personal accounts in San Diego and Washington, D.C. And he paid $11,116.50 to help pay Cunningham's mortgage on the Kelly C.
The plea agreement charged that in return for the payments, Cunningham "used his public office and took other official action to influence U.S. Department of Defense personnel to award and execute government contracts."
Wilkes befriended other legislators, too. He ran a hospitality suite, with several bedrooms, in Washington ? first in the Watergate Hotel and then in the Westin Grand near Capitol Hill.
He also kept his donations flowing, targeting people with clout over the Pentagon budget: $43,000 to Jerry Lewis, who now heads the Appropriations Committee; $35,500 to Hunter, who heads the Armed Services Committee; and $30,000 to Tom DeLay, who flew on Wilkes' jet several times and has been a frequent golfing buddy.
Hospitality suite?!?!
Add to the intrigue the "Hottub Tom" DeLay reference, the fact that Wilkes' PAC gave the following Texas-centric donations:
Henry Bonilla: $8,500
Kay Bailey Hutchison: $2,000
Sam Johnson: $5,000
Pete Sessions: $1,000
I'm trying to hold my dinner down and give KBH the benefit of some doubt on the "hospitality suite" issue. And I'm guessing Sam Johnson might be on the up & up here since his age is likewise up & up (and hopefully, that's all). But um ... Sessions & Bonilla ... and DeLay's golf trips (one of many). Hmmm. That's really kinda interesting. Really really really really interesting.
As you were.