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Pious Perverts See other Pious Perverts Articles Title: Co-conspirator's possible links to prostitutes eyed (DUKE CUNNINGHAM SCANDAL) Co-conspirator's possible links to prostitutes eyed By Dean Calbreath Federal prosecutors are reviewing records of two Washington, D.C., hotels where Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes rented suites as part of their investigation into whether prostitutes were involved as he tried to curry favor with lawmakers and CIA officials. Wilkes, whom federal prosecutors have identified as a co-conspirator in the bribery case of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, rented hospitality suites in the capital on behalf of his flagship company, ADCS Inc. As The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in December, the suites – first at the Watergate Hotel and then at the Westin Grand Hotel – had several bedrooms where lawmakers and other guests could relax. Federal investigators are trying to determine whether Cunningham and other legislators brought prostitutes to the hotels or prostitutes were provided for them there, according to a report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the Union-Tribune. A source close to the bribery case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, told the Union-Tribune that Mitchell Wade, who pleaded guilty in February to bribing Cunningham, told federal prosecutors that he periodically helped arrange for a prostitute for the then-congressman. A limousine would pick up Cunningham and a prostitute and take them to the ADCS hospitality suite, Wade reportedly told investigators. Federal agents are investigating whether other legislators had similar arrangements with Wilkes or Wade, a business associate of Wilkes who ran his own defense contracting company, MZM Inc. Wilkes' attorney, Michael Lipman, denies that his client hired prostitutes. Two of Wilkes' former business associates say they were present on several occasions when Shirlington Limousine & Transportation Service of northern Virginia brought prostitutes to the suite. They say they did not see lawmakers in the suites on those occasions, though both had heard rumors of congressmen bringing women to the rooms. Shirlington's attorney, Bobby S. Stafford, confirmed in a letter that from the company's founding in 1990 through the early 2000s, Shirlington President Christopher Baker “provided limousine services for Mr. Wilkes for whatever entertainment he had in the Watergate.” Stafford's letter stated that Baker was “never in attendance in any party where any women were being used for prostitution purposes.” Last year, Shirlington won a $21 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security. According to the Journal, FBI agents have interviewed women employed at escort services in Washington, as well as other potential witnesses. In his guilty plea in November, Cunningham said Wilkes, referred to as “co-conspirator No. 1,” gave him more than $630,000 in cash and gifts in order to gain government contracts. Wade, known as “co-conspirator No. 2,” also named Wilkes in his guilty plea. Wilkes has not been indicted in the case, and his companies continue to receive money from government contracts. Several of Wilkes' former employees and business associates say he used the hospitality suites over the past 15 years to curry favor with lawmakers as well as officials with the CIA, where both Wilkes and Wade sought contracts. Wilkes hosted parties for lawmakers and periodic poker games that included CIA officials as well as members of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees. Cunningham, who sat on both committees, was a frequent guest, according to some of the participants in the poker games. People who were present at the games said one of the regular players was Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, who has been Wilkes' best friend since the two attended junior high school in Chula Vista in the late 1960s. In October, Foggo was named the CIA's executive director – the agency's third-highest position. Another player was a CIA agent known as “Nine Fingers,” so named because he lost one of his digits while on assignment. “I remember big spreads of food and alcohol, but mostly cigars,” said former Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas, who attended a couple of the poker parties during the 1990s. Wilson said nearly all the poker players at the two games he attended were CIA officials, including Foggo and Nine Fingers. He said there were no women or other lawmakers present, but added that he had to leave the games early “because the cigar smoke was too thick, and I don't deal well with that.” Foggo, who occasionally hosted the poker parties at his house in northern Virginia, is under investigation by the CIA's inspector general to determine whether he helped Wilkes gain CIA contracts. CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said such an investigation is routine when questions are raised about an official's actions at the agency. “Because the inspector general's review is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to discuss specific matters that may fall within that review,” Gimigliano said. “The fact that the inspector general is looking into something should in no way be seen as lending credibility to any assertion.” One of Wilkes' companies, Archer Logistics, won a contract to provide bottled water, first-aid kits and other supplies to CIA agents in Afghanistan and Iraq. The company had no previous experience with such work, having been founded a few months before the contract was granted. Critics familiar with the contract, valued at $2 million to $3 million, say the CIA overpaid for the work. The contract was approved by the CIA office in Frankfurt, Germany, where Foggo oversaw acquisitions. Foggo did not personally sign the contract, however, said unnamed CIA officials who spoke with Newsweek. “Mr. Foggo maintains that the contracts for which he was responsible were properly awarded and administered,” Gimigliano said.
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#1. To: aristeides (#0)
Bet some of those prostitutes were male!
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