Harris, Wade dined

twice Lobbyist who bribed another Congress member paid Harris' tab.

23 May 2006 // When a corrupt defense contractor took Katherine Harris to a posh D.C. restaurant last year, it wasn't the first time he wined and dined the Longboat Key Republican.

Mitchell Wade had taken Harris to dinner at the same high-end restaurant, Citronelle, the year before, a Harris campaign spokesman said Monday.

And just like the 2005 dinner, Harris has acknowledged not paying for her share of the 2004 meal. Spokesman Chris Ingram said it was an "oversight" and Harris has made a charitable donation in the amount that would have covered her share of the tab.

However, Ingram said he did not know how much the donation was for or which charity got it. Harris made the donation with her personal money and not through the campaign, Ingram said.

Wade, the former CEO of MZM Inc., is at the center of an ongoing national bribery scandal. Wade has already pleaded guilty in federal court to bribing U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and making $32,000 in illegal campaign donations to Harris.

Harris' previous campaign adviser, Ed Rollins, quit her campaign in March, citing the growing controversy with Wade as one of the reasons for his departure.

Harris has been trying to distance herself from the scandal ever since Wade pleaded guilty in February. Harris has repeatedly refused to answer specific questions about her relationship with Wade or Cunningham. In a Sunday television interview on Bay News 9, Harris repeated her standard answer to questions about her relationship with Wade.

"I've done nothing wrong. The Justice Department has not asked me any questions. I simply had the opportunity to have a naval intelligence program in my district," Harris said.

Harris has said that Wade told her he intended to open up a Navy counterintelligence program in Sarasota that would have brought about 40 jobs to the area. Harris put in a $10 million funding request for MZM after her 2005 dinner with Wade, but the proposal was turned down.

Even though Harris went to dinner with Wade twice, there was no reason to suspect he was breaking the law, Ingram said.

In Washington, lobbyists and special interest groups from all industries are always trying to win influence with members of Congress, he said.

They do it by giving lawmakers campaign donations, hosting fund-raisers for them or through personal contacts like the private dinners Wade had with Harris, Ingram said.

"There was no reason to believe he was up to anything that was illegal," he said.

Harris had been making connections within the defense industry even before she was in Congress, documents show. As early as October 2002, Harris was the featured speaker at a fund-raiser at a "Defense Industry Breakfast" with Cunningham and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

The fund-raiser was part of a nearly weeklong money-raising trip Harris was on at the time, just a month before she won the 13th Congressional District seat for the first time.

The day after the defense industry breakfast, Harris was at a fund-raising reception put on by the National Association of Auto Dealers and Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The next day, she was at a fund-raiser before The Livingston Group, a well-known Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.

This year, Harris is running for the U.S. Senate. She faces three other Republicans in the Sept. 5 GOP primary. Pinellas County developer Peter Monroe, the son of a former governor; LeRoy Collins Jr.; and Orlando-area attorney Will McBride have all filed to run against Harris.

The winner will face Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, in the November general election.