Mar 26
Waxman Demands Info Linking White House To Cunningham Probe And Possible Attorney Firing:
We noted the following information that stemmed from Lam’s investigation into former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA): the White House awarded a one-month, $140,000 contract to MZM contractor Mitchell Wade, who had never previously held a federal contract. Two weeks after Wade got paid, he used a cashier’s check for exactly $140,000 to buy a boat for a now-imprisoned congressman (Cunningham) at a price that the congressman had pre-negotiated…
…Published reports suggest that the contract was to provide computers and office furniture to the Office of the Vice President.
Looks like the VP better come up with a receipt from Ethan Allen, quick!
March 28th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
[...] As an update to the previous post. TPM’s Josh Marshall broke this story. About how the furniture story was just that, a furniture “story” to cover for the fact that the $140,000 contract was really for an Anthrax screening facility for the President’s mail. The idea is that the mail would be rerouted to a mid-west facility where it would be opened by a staff wearing hazard suits who would then scan it and sent it off to the White House. Not a bad idea actually. However it still smells, wouldn’t you assume the cost of a no-bid government contract for this purpose would be in the $millions$ range? Let alone the fact that a job as serious and classified as this going to a political crony who had never held a Gov’t contract or dealt with tainted mail.? I still say this is a straight up payoff for Cunnuingham’s boat and the mail story is just another line of BS to add to the stinking pile that is the Duke Cunningham scandal. It just gives all the more credence to case as to why they fired Lam. [...]