Virgil Goode getting caught in the MZM Cunningham scandal?...

[cascadiance]

So far, it's been mostly publicized as a problem for my Rethuglican congress critter, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, where most of the investigation into MZM bribes and other chicanery has been done.

But now being roped in are the two other big recipients of MZM's political contributions, Florida's Katherine Harris and Virginia's Virgil Goode.

Virginia folks, I'd keep an eye on this story. If MZM really starts to stink it up, Goode could be skewered with the investigation too.

From:

http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-42945sy0jul03,0,4295402.story?coll=dp-opinion-editorials

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Barnie Day: Find the bullet in this smoking gun

July 3, 2005

Let's see ... A California congressman's documents under federal grand jury subpoena. A defense contractor with several operations in Virginia. Virgil Goode's largest contributor during his last campaign. The Virginia Tobacco Commission. One of George Allen's former Cabinet secretaries, with past ties to Pat Robertson's Regent University. The Warner administration's Governor's Opportunity Fund. President Bush's war on terror. And Katherine Harris, Florida's former secretary of state, maven of Bush-Gore fame.

Could there possibly be a single, common thread that runs through this?

There is: MZM Inc., the Washington-based security firm that has enjoyed exponential growth in revenues since the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Said The Washington Post in a piece by Renae Merle and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum: "A federal grand jury in Southern California has subpoenaed documents from Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, his lawyer said yesterday in a written statement. Prosecutors have been examining the congressman's relationship with Mitchell J. Wade, the owner of District-based defense contractor MZM, Inc.

...

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Other related stories:

http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783622116&path=!news

http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783581975&path=!news

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783503982

[dsewell]

1. I tend to doubt it

He's offered to return any contributions that MZM employees feel they were pressured into making. Virgil lacks the personal-greed achilles heel that Duke Cunningham obviously has and that Wade pandered to. Working to get MZM to bring jobs into the 5th District is pretty much what a congressman is supposed to do; so as long as he didn't break any rules to do so, I don't see this doing him much direct harm.

Unfortunately, I'd say that Virgil has positioned himself fairly well to avoid major damage if Bush and crew go down in flames, because he has made no bones about distancing himself from the White House on immigration, CAFTA, the tobacco buyout (when it looked like Bush wouldn't support them), etc. Short of redistricting, I'm afraid the only thing likely to turn him out of office would be the miraculous emergence of his constituents out of entrenched social conservatism.