CREW: Rep. Cunningham should not be permitted to use campaign funds to defray legal costs

12 Aug 2005 // If you've been following the escalating scandal surrounding Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), you know that Rep. Cunningham is one of the most corrupt members of Congress.

Congressman Cunningham has been under investigation by multiple government agencies for his dealings with a defense contractor whose company has scored large contracts through the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee--a committee on which Cunningham sits. For more details, please check-out these stories in the North County Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group helped expose Rep. Cunningham's unethical and possibly illegal actions and has prepared an ethics complaint against him. CREW has asked that a member of the House of Representatives forward the complaint to the ethics committee. As of today, no member has forwarded or filed the complaint with the committee.

Incredibly this week Rep. Cunningham's treasurer has asked that the money donated to Rep. Cunningham's campaign be used to defray his legal defense fund!

In response, CREW sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking that Rep. Cunningham's request be denied. In CREW's letter to the FEC, Melanie Sloan, the groups Executive Director writes:

The most serious charge Rep. Cunningham appears likely to face is bribery: Mitchell Wade paid Rep. Cunningham approximately $700,000 more for his house than the house was worth and, in return, Rep. Cunningham helped steer defense contracts to Wade's firm. Because this $700,000 was paid directly to Cunningham and not to any campaign committee associated with him, the allegation would not relate to campaign activities. As a result, Rep. Cunningham should not be permitted to use campaign funds to defray legal costs stemming from such a charge.

In previous cases, the FEC has ruled that using private campaign donations to defray legal costs is permissible; however, the FEC makes these decisions on a case-by-case basis. CREW has asked that at the very least, the FEC suspend its decision until an indictment is handed down because:

This would allow the FEC to make a more informed decision as to whether Rep. Cunningham's illegal actions stem from campaign activities or his status as a federal officeholder. For those donors who contributed to Cunningham's campaign committee with the expectation that their offerings would be used to fund a political campaign deserve this consideration before their money is used to fund a criminal defense team.

Is it improper for Rep. Cunningham to use the money given to him for electoral purposes as a cushion to fund his own legal defense? Well, Rep. Cunningham is concerned that his constituents might have a problem with it! In a letter to his campaign contributors, Cunningham vowed that if donors didn't want their contributions to be used for legal expenses, they could request that their money be given to the National Republican Congressional Campaign, instead.

Does anyone else see a problem with this? Constituents give their hard-earned money to politicians because they trust that, if elected, Members of Congress will go to Washington and serve as strong advocates on behalf of constituent interests. Donations should not be used to pay corrupt politicians' legal bills. Using supporters' campaign donations to pay legal bills is unethical and it dishonors campaign contributors, those who voted Cunningham into office and all 50th District Californians!

Call your Representative and ask that Rep. Cunningham be investigated by the ethics committee.