Mitchell Wade is giving Jack Abramoff a run for his money in the headlines department. Wade, he of the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal, has also had questionable dealings with Reps. Katherine Harris (R-FL) and Virgil Goode (R-VA). It's Goode that we're concerned with now.
The Pentagon has terminated a contract that arose out of a 2003 earmark by Rep. Goode that built an intelligence center on land owned by Mitchell's MZM Corp. The reason the Pentagon gave is that there are at least four other government agencies that perform the same duties - evaluating Pentagon contracts with foreign-owned companies - and that the center in Goode's district was unsolicited by the Defense Department.
Court papers associated with Wade's guilty plea said that "Representative A," identified as Goode, received $46,000 in contributions from Wade that were disguised to appear as if they had come from MZM employees in 2003 and 2005. That was part of about $90,000 Wade and his workers contributed to Goode overall...
...On July 21, 2006, Richard Berglund, once an MZM official and recently the director of Athena's Martinsville office, pleaded guilty to illegally funneling Wade campaign donations to Goode. He said he had helped Wade donate funds in others' names, a single misdemeanor that could mean a year in jail. Berglund, who will be sentenced on Jan. 18, has agreed to cooperate in the continuing investigation.
According to his plea agreement, Wade targeted Goode because Wade wanted to open an office in Goode's district and believed that Goode "had the ability to request appropriations funding for this facility and would be an advocate for funding for MZM."
In his plea bargain, Wade made it clear that he did not tell Goode or members of his staff that the donations in question were illegal. Last month, Goode's staff said that he is not being investigated.
You are not logged in.
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account just by filling out the form below. It's quick and free.
