For Immediate Release: February 24, 2006

Watchdog Calls On Members of Congress to Disgorge Contributions From Duke Cunningham Co-Conspirator Mitch Wade

Campaign watchdog TheRestofUs.org called for the return of any outstanding campaign contributions from Mitchell Wade, the co-conspirator and briber of Duke Cunningham, and his company MZM, Inc.

“Wade’s political contributions are tantamount to poison in our democracy,” said Derek Cressman, director of TheRestofUs.org. “Any elected official with any of this man’s money in their campaign accounts should immediately disgorge it all down to the last penny.”

Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty today in federal court to bribing former Congressman Duke Cunningham and to funneling illegal campaign contributions through his employees to two members of Congress. Those members are very likely Reps. Virgil Goode of Virginia and Katherine Harris of Florida, the only members of Congress other than Duke Cunningham to receive more than $10,000 from Wade and MZM, Inc. Wade’s company MZM was Harris’s largest campaign contributor for her 2004 House race.

Contributions from Brent Wilkes and his employees at the federal and state level also show a pattern of being illegally funneled. Wilkes is one of the other alleged co-conspirators with Duke Cunningham and close associate of Mitch Wade. In December, TheRestofUs.org called on the Justice Department and the California Attorney General to investigate the very crime that Mitch Wade pleaded guilty to in court today. (see http://therestofus.org/newsreleases/15Dec2005WilkesRelease.htm )

TheRestofUs.org is also calling on candidates who received funds from Brent Wilkes to disgorge those funds. Wilkes has yet to be indicted, but Duke Cunningham named him as a co-conspirator. (see http://therestofus.org/wilkes/main.htm ). Brent Wilkes served as a Pioneer for President Bush’s presidential campaigns. TheRestofUs.org is calling on Bush to disgorge contributions from Wilkes but also make public the list of donations that Wilkes raised so that the media can investigate possibilities of money laundering similar to what Mitch Wade plead guilty to today. (see http://therestofus.org/newsreleases/2006BushComeClean.htm )

TheRestofUs.org will be compiling and updating a list of those members of Congress who have yet to disgorge all campaign contributions from Wade and MZM, Inc. over the course of today. You can link to that page here: http://www.researchfortherestofus.org/CorruptionFiles/Wade/WadeDonees.htm

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan campaign watchdog.