Randy Duke

November 28, 2005 -- California GOP Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty to tax evasion today in San Diego. Shortly later, he resigned from office. Cunningham is embroiled in the MZM contract fraud controversy involving Defense Department contracts to MZM, a firm in which top GOP influence peddlers have a stake. The influential Cunningham sold his home to MZM at an overly-inflated price in 2003. Cunningham was the chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Human Intelligence of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Prosecutors said Cunningham took $2.4 million in bribes from defense and intelligence contractors, including MZM and Automated Document Conversion Systems (ADCS). In return, MZM landed some major contracts, including one at the National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, and others in Iraq. Also implicated in the MZM scandal are Virginia Republican Rep. Virgil Goode and Florida GOP Rep. and current Senate candidate, Katherine Harris. FROM the Wayne Madsen Report. ( WMR )