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For the American football player, see Randall Cunningham. Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham (born December 8 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke, is a Vietnam veteran, convincted felon and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 50th Congressional District from 1991 to 2005. Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28 2005 after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and underreporting his income for 2004. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. On March 3 2006, he received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution. A special election to fill the vacancy left by Cunningham took place on April 11 2006. No candidate obtained the majority necessary to win outright, so a runoff election was held on June 6, which was won by Republican Brian Bilbray (with a margin of about 4.5%).
Family Cunningham was born in Los Angeles to Randall and Lela Cunningham, who both moved there from Oklahoma during the Depression. His father was a Union Oil station attendant. Military service After receiving his bachelor's and MBA degrees from the University of Missouri in 1964 and 1965, Cunningham spent a year as a high school swimming coach in Hinsdale, Illinois before joining the United States Navy in 1966. During his service, Cunningham became the first Navy ace in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom from aboard aircraft carriers, and recording five confirmed kills, making him one of two U.S. pilots to "ace" in that war. He was one of the early graduates of the Navy's TOPGUN school that taught dogfighting techniques to F-4 Phantom pilots and RIOs. It has been alleged that Cunningham downed a MiG-17 piloted by Vietnamese fighter ace Col. Nguyen Toon. Although "Col. Toon" was a North Vietnamese manufactured myth the Vietnamese pilot was still a superb dogfighter.• Cunningham was reportedly almost court-martialed while still in flight school for breaking into an office to compare his records with those of his colleagues—a charge denied by Cunningham, but supported by two of his superior officers at the time.• Regardless of the controversy, there was little doubt about Cunningham's piloting abilities. He was one of the most highly decorated U.S. Navy pilots in the Vietnam War, receiving the Navy Cross once, the Silver Star twice, the Air Medal 15 times, and the Purple Heart for wounds he received under enemy fire. After returning from Vietnam in 1972, he became an instructor at the Navy's TOPGUN school for fighter pilots at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Cunningham says many of his real-life experiences in combat and as an instructor were depicted in the popular 1986 movie Top Gun,• although the movie's producer says it was not based on any specific aviator.• Cunningham was a commentator on the History Channel program "Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles", in the Vietnam War segment, where he discussed his experiences as a fighter pilot. In 1985 Cunningham earned an MBA from National University, a San Diego night school. He retired from the Navy in 1987 as a commander, settling in Del Mar, a suburb of San Diego. However, success eluded him in business or teaching. He became nationally known as a CNN commentator on naval aircraft in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War. Political career Cunningham's visibility as a CNN commentator led several Republican leaders to approach him about running in what was then the 44th District, one of four that divided San Diego. The district had been held for eight years by Democrat Jim Bates, and was considered the most Democratic district in the San Diego area. However, Bates was bogged down in a scandal involving charges of sexual harassment. Cunningham won the Republican nomination in 1990 and hammered Bates about the scandal, promising to be "a congressman we can be proud of." He won by just one percentage point, meaning that the San Diego area was represented entirely by Republicans for only the second time since the city was split into two districts after the 1960 census. Congressional freshmen usually do not get much media attention outside of their home districts or states, but Cunningham's status as a Vietnam War hero made him an exception. Colleagues and the media admired him for his special knowledge of the armed forces: he played an important role in the debate on whether to use military force to make Iraq end its occupation of Kuwait. Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Cunningham had considerable "drawing power" and was treated as a celebrity by his fellow Republicans. After the 1990 census, redistricting renumbered the 44th District as the 51st and created the 50th District, splitting off a significant portion of San Diego County. At the same time, the 44th added several areas of heavily Republican North San Diego County. Cunningham ended up in the new 51st District, as did Bill Lowery, a fellow Republican who had represented most of the other side of San Diego for the past 12 years. They faced one another in the Republican primary. Despite Lowery's seniority, his involvement in the House banking scandal hurt him. Cunningham repeated his promise from 1990 to be "a congressman we can be proud of." As polls showed Cunningham with a substantial lead, Lowery dropped out of the primary race, effectively handing Cunningham the nomination. He breezed to victory in November. Even though the district (renumbered as the 50th after the 2000 census) is not nearly as conservative as the other two Republican-held districts in the San Diego area, Cunningham was reelected six times with no less than 55 percent of the vote. Cunningham was a member of the Appropriations and Intelligence committees, and chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence during the 109th Congress. He was considered a leading Republican expert on national security issues. He was also a champion of education, using his position on the Appropriations Education Subcommittee to steer federal dollars to schools in San Diego. After surgery for prostate cancer in 1998, he became a champion of early testing for the disease. Cunningham was known for making intemperate outbursts, examples of which follow: In the Washingtonian feature "Best & Worst of Congress" of 2004, Cunningham was rated (along with four other House members) as "No Rocket Scientist" by a bipartisan survey of Congressional staff. While Cunningham said that “I cut my own rudder” on issues, he had a very conservative voting record. He is often compared by liberal interest groups to former congressman Bob Dornan, with some justification; both are ardent conservatives, both are former military pilots, and both have become infamous for outbursts against perceived enemies. In 1992, Cunningham, along with Dornan and fellow San Diego Republican Duncan Hunter, challenged the patriotism of then-Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton before a near-empty House chamber. In September 1996 Cunningham attacked President Clinton for appointing "soft on crime" judges. "We must get tough on drug dealers," he said, adding that "those who peddle destruction on our children must pay dearly." He favored stiff drug penalties and voted for the death penalty for major drug dealers. Four months later, his son Todd was arrested for helping to transport 400 pounds (181 kg) of marijuana from Massachusetts to California. At his son's sentencing hearing, Cunningham fought back tears as he begged the judge for leniency (Todd was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, in part because he tested positive for cocaine three times while on bail). Cunningham's press secretary responded to accusations of double standards with: "The sentence Todd got had nothing to do with who Duke is. Duke has always been tough on drugs and remains tough on drugs." Legislative achievements Cunningham was the lead sponsor of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which banned the practice of shark finning in all US waters and pushed America to the lead on efforts to ban shark finning worldwide. For his efforts Cunningham was named as a "Conservation Hero" by the Audubon Society and the Ocean Wildlife Campaign. Cunningham co-sponsored, along with Democrat John Murtha, the so-called "Flag Desecration Amendment", which would add the following sentence to the Constitution of the United States "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United States." The proposed amendment has passed the House many times, but narrowly missed the requisite 2/3 majority vote for passage in the Senate. Cunningham was the driving force behind the Law Enforcement Officer's Safety Act which was passed and signed into law by President George W. Bush in July of 2004. The law grants the authority to non-federal law enforcement officers from any jurisdiction to carry a firearm anywhere within the jurisdiction of the United States. Allegations Arise In June 2005 it was revealed that a defense contractor, Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense contracting firm MZM Inc. (since renamed Athena Innovative Solutions Inc.), had bought Cunningham's house in Del Mar for $1,675,000. A month later, Wade placed it back on the market where it remained unsold for 8 months until the price was reduced to $975,000. Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; soon after the purchase, Wade began to receive tens of millions of dollars worth of defense and intelligence contracts. Cunningham claimed the deal was legitimate, adding, "I feel very confident that I haven't done anything wrong."• It later emerged that Wilkes reportedly gave Cunningham more than $630,000 in cash and favors.• Cunningham was also criticized for selling merchandise on his personal website (since disabled), such as a $595 buck knife featuring the official Congressional seal.• He failed to obtain permission to use the seal, which is a federal offense. On April 27 2006, months after his guilty plea, Scot J. Patrow, writing for the Wall Street Journal, reported that in addition to all the favors, gifts, and money Cunningham received from defense contractors who wanted his help in obtaining contracts, Cunningham may have been provided with prostitutes, hotel rooms, and limousines.• Plea agreement On November 28 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud in federal court in San Diego. Among the many bribes Cunningham admitted receiving were the house sale at an inflated price, the free use of the yacht, a used Rolls-Royce, antique furniture, Persian rugs, jewelry, and a $2,000 contribution for his daughter's college graduation party.• Cunningham's attorney, Mark Holscher, later said that the government's evidence was so overwhelming that he had no choice but to recommend a guilty plea.• With the plea bargain, Cunningham faced a maximum of 10 years; had he fought the charges, Cunningham risked spending the rest of his life in prison. As part of his guilty plea, Cunningham agreed to forfeit his $2.55 million home in Rancho Santa Fe, which he bought with the proceeds of the sale of the Del Mar house. Cunningham initially tried to sell the Rancho Santa Fe house, but federal prosecutors moved to block the sale after finding evidence it was purchased with Wade's money. (Wade, with others, even paid off the balance Cunningham owed on the mortgage.) Cunningham will also forfeit more than $1.8 million in cash, antiques, rugs, and other items. Also as part of the plea agreement, Cunningham agreed to help the government in its prosecution of others involved in the defense contractor bribery scandal. However, news reports have surfaced stating that Cunningham is not cooperating with investigators despite the agreement.• A week later, Cunningham, through his lawyer, announced that he is ready to cooperate.• Resignation Cunningham announced his resignation at a press conference just after entering his plea. He submitted his official resignation letter to the Clerk of the House and to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on December 6.• Had Cunningham declined to resign, his role in Congress would have been very limited, as House rules do not allow members convicted of felonies to vote or participate in committee work pending an investigation by the Ethics Committee.• It is very likely that he would have been expelled from the House, as happened with Democrat James Traficant three years earlier. Under Republican caucus rules, he would have lost his subcommittee chairmanship.• In marked contrast to his defiant stand earlier in the year, Cunningham was very contrite, sullen and overcome by emotion when he read his prepared statement announcing that he was stepping down: "When I announced several months ago that I would not seek re-election, I publicly declared my innocence because I was not strong enough to face the truth. So, I misled my family, staff, friends, colleagues, the public—even myself. For all of this, I am deeply sorry. The truth is—I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my high office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, and most importantly, the trust of my friends and family. ... In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame. I learned in Viet Nam that the true measure of a man is how he responds to adversity. I cannot undo what I have done. But I can atone. I am now almost 65 years old and, as I enter the twilight of my life, I intend to use the remaining time that God grants me to make amends."• Despite his guilty plea, Cunningham may still receive a pension for his 21 years of service in the Navy and almost 15 years in Congress. While federal law only allows the government to strip pensions from federal employees guilty of treason, perjury or trading secrets with the enemy, San Diego benefits expert Robert Goldstein told the San Diego Union-Tribune that it is possible the government could still try to take the money from Cunningham.• Local Darrell Issa, a Republican who represents the neighboring 49th District, said after Cunningham's plea that he'd been waiting for Cunningham to explain his behavior "in a way that made sense to us" and that Cunningham's behavior "fell below the standard the public demands of its elected representatives."• Francine Busby, Cunningham's Democratic challenger in 2004 and the Democratic candidate for the 50th District in the upcoming run-off election to fill Cunningham's vacancy, called November 28th "a sad day for the people" and called for support for her proposed ethics reform bill, the "Clean House Act", saying that "our government in Washington is broken."• National In an editorial on November 29, the Washington Post called the Cunningham affair "the most brazen bribery conspiracy in modern congressional history."• House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a December 6 statement that Cunningham was a "war hero,"; but that he broke "the public trust he has built through his military and congressional career."• Several of Cunningham's former colleagues have donated to charity campaign contributions he had given them.• On February 9 2006, Senator John Kerry introduced a bill to prevent lawmakers who have been convicted of official misconduct from collecting taxpayer funded pensions. Officially the bill is named the "Federal Pension Forfeiture Act", but unofficially it has been dubbed the "Duke Cunningham Act."•• Sentencing On March 3 2006, U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns sentenced Cunningham to 100 months (eight years and four months) in prison.• Federal prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence of ten years, but Cunningham's defense lawyers said that at 64 years old and with prostate cancer, Cunningham would likely die in prison if he received the full sentence.•• Judge Burns cited his military service in Vietnam as the reason the full ten years was not imposed. Prosecutors announced that they were satisfied with the sentence, which is the longest jail term ever given to a former Congressman.• On the day of sentencing, Cunningham was 90 pounds (41 kg) lighter than when allegations first surfaced 9 months earlier. After receiving his sentence, Cunningham made a request to see his 91-year-old mother one last time before going to prison. "I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong. I did that, sir," Cunningham said. The request was denied, and Burns remanded him immediately upon rendering the sentence.• Cunningham is currently incarcerated at the low-security wing of the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina with inmate register number 94405-198.• His projected release date is June 4 2013. Aftermath | ||||||||
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