U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode got at least $88,000 in campaign contributions connected to the same defense contractor implicated in one of the nation?s most brazen bribery scandals.?In spite of questions raised by some, these contributions to my re-election committee were valid and proper,? he said.
That may be, though that didn?t stop the 5th District Republican from deciding to make generous donations in the same amount to nonprofit groups, volunteer firefighters and animal shelters.
The now-defunct MZM Inc., whose employees and political action committee gave Goode the money he is now donating, was once run by Mitchell Wade, who was implicated last month when Rep. Randy ?Duke? Cunningham acknowledged taking $2.4 million in bribes.
And the pitch:
The contributions to Goode?s campaign, the lawmaker says, were ?valid and proper.? But that?s unlikely to help Goode much among his constituents, who might conclude that he?s been in Washington too long.Goode no longer seems to recognize that legitimate suspicions might be raised by $88,000 in contributions from a defense contractor, let alone one implicated in one of history?s most expensive Capitol scandals.
Strikeout! Next up to bat ...
Goode?s certainly not alone. . . . Let?s just look close to home, and in Cunningham?s orbit: U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake apparently divested herself of the $5,000 she received from the California Republican?s political-action committee, according to the Daily Press; U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes apparently gave away the same amount from MZM?s PAC. Sen. John Warner disposed of $500 he got from MZM.This, sadly is the system we have. It is so fundamentally corrupt that the only way politicians can purify themselves is by giving matching money to charity once they?re exposed. It?s a kind of moral money laundering.
The Pilot strikes out the side. Read the whole thing - it's ends with an ominous reference to Jack Abramoff's simmering bribery scandals. Goode and Co.'s "moral money laundering" doesn't end their problems - their ethics issues are just beginning.