A defense contractor previously linked to disgraced congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham is in trouble again. Defense contractor Michael Wade already pleaded guilty to bribing the former Representative. Now he's been ordered to pay a whopping million-dollar campaign finance penalty. Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports from Capitol Hill.
The Federal Election Commission has ordered Michael Wade to pay the second-largest fine in FEC history. Wade and his former company, MZM Incorporated, violated campaign laws by funneling almost 80-thousand dollars to Republican House members Virgil Goode of Virginia and Katherine Harris of Florida.
The million-dollar penalty is the result of a 2005 complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The watchdog group was responding to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribute about how Wade allegedly used corporate money to reimburse employees for contributions to certain GOP lawmakers. He apparently hoped to curry favor for his DC-based high-tech security business.
From Washington, I'm Elizabeth Wynne Johnson for KPBS Radio.
