Jerry Lewis, (R-CA-41), is now being caught up in the Duke Cunningham. The San Diego Union Tribune, which moved up several notches in my mind with the Duke Cunningham reporting that it did, is now reporting on Jerry Lewis’ involvement with the scandal:
Rep. Jerry Lewis, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, angrily denied yesterday that he or his staff had engaged in any misconduct in dealing with lobbyists or in “earmarking” federal money.
But a federal government source told The San Diego Union-Tribune that investigators were probing Lewis’ dealings with lobbyist and former Republican Rep. Bill Lowery of San Diego. The source said the investigation was a spin-off from the corruption probe of now-imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. (San Diego U-T 5/12/06)
And just who does Mr. Lowery represent? Brent Wilkes, a man you have read much about here.
According to government and defense industry sources, Lewis and Cunningham worked together to help Poway military contractor Brent Wilkes as he pursued contracts on Capitol Hill. Cunningham admitted taking bribes from Wilkes, who has been identified as co-conspirator No. 1 in Cunningham’s plea agreement.
On April 15, 1999, three months after Lewis was named chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, he received $17,000 in campaign contributions from Wilkes and his associates. At the time, Wilkes was vying for a project to digitize military documents in the Panama Canal Zone, which the United States was about to return to Panama.
“If you can’t go to people on Capitol Hill, it’s very difficult to remain viable as a government contractor,” said one of Wilkes’ associates who contributed money to Lewis at the time. “You have to talk to people. And to talk to people, you have to give money.”
So, the press has got you dead to rights…what do you do Mr. Lewis? Well, he goes after the Duke-stir.
In the Union-Tribune articles, Lewis denied any wrongdoing. But his denial yesterday was more forceful, with most of his fury directed at Cunningham, who admitted to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for federal contracts.
“Mr. Cunningham . . . betrayed his oath of office, his constituents, and his fellow members of Congress,” Lewis said in his statement. “I have never been as angry toward anyone in my entire career.”
This case, along with the Cunningham case, if they really can be separated, are far more serious than anything Abramoff did in my mind. Abramoff ran some games to steal money for himself. Ok, he got Bob Ney to stick stuff in the Congressional Record that helped him shake down the Native American “monkeys” for a few extra bucks. But the Cunningham/Lewis scandal is much more pernicious. Lewis, as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, used his authority to insert earmarks for projects that would go to Wilkes.
In other words, he used federal government contracts to repay Wilkes et al. Federal Dollars…Taxpayer Dollars. This one could be big. John Boenher even called the allegations worrisome (I can’t find the quote, but I saw it on Countdown). Is this finally the straw that breaks the camel’s back on GOP corruption? Not likely, but perhaps the voters are getting sick of it.
Howie Klein at DWT also does quite a number on Lewis.