California Republican Admits to Taking Bribes, Resigns

Eight-term Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (63, R-CA, 50th), who had announced in July that he would not run for re-election, resigned from Congress Monday after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes, primarily from defense contractors. Cunningham was a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

This is the latest in a series of Republican party scandals, inside and outside the beltway. Ohio is plagued by Coin-Gate: Governor Bob Taft pleaded guilty in August to state ethics law violations, "becoming the first governor in the state's history convicted of a crime." Tom Noe, the Coin-Gate mastermind, was central to Taft's violations and was indicted in October "on charges that he illegally funneled $45,400 in campaign contributions to President Bush's re-election campaign."

In DC, US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) has been indicted in a campaign finance case and was forced to step down from his role as majority leader; Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is under SEC investigation for stock trades; and Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was indicted in the Plamegate investigation.

News about Cunningham from Google. Blogs covering these stories include Basie!, Better Living, Blogs of War, Bluegrass Report, Bulldog Manifesto, HolyCoast, Preemptive Karma

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