Goode and MZM: a brewing bribery scandal all the same

By: Rob
Published On: 2/27/2006 2:00:00 AM

Of course, at this point, Rep. Goode isn't in the same sort of trouble that fellow appropriations committee member Duke Cunningham.  The Duke straight up took bribes for political favors - the kind of old school scandal of yesteryear.  Nobody is saying the Goode got a Rolex and some cash in his wallet in the MZM scandal. 

However, Goode's behavior is still troubling.  Recall my earlier post, showing that Mitch Wade asked that Goode request appropriations funding for the MZM facility soon after he'd just delivered a huge chunk of campaign contributions.  As I stated there:

Mitch delivers a bag full of cash to Virgil in March 2005.  Three months later, Wade comes back asking for taxpayer money to pay for his new facility and programs.  Virgil delivers, with even more incentives for MZM to make sure the pork was steered into his district.

Also, note that MZM/Wade gave Virgil over $90,000 in campaign contributions - more than was given to even Duke Cunningham.  Now, the way to the Duke's heart was through his vanity.  What about Virgil?

No one has suggested that Goode took such lavish gifts from Wade.

"Virgil is not ostentatious," said Jim Severt, a political consultant and his former chief of staff. "He doesn't need a mansion or a Cadillac, because his life is politics."

But that doesn't make him immune from temptation, Severt added: "I would think that giving him $90,000 in campaign contributions has as much influence on him as giving him a Rolls Royce or a yacht, because politics is all he has."

Sure, Virgil didn't get a Rolls from Mitch Wade.  The way to Goode's heart is to feed his political hunger.  Becoming one of his top campaign contributors was likely the best way to make sure Virgil delivered.  And deliver he did - three months after the pay-off.  And, therein lies the bribe.  In exchange for huge campaign contributions, Goode quite possibly steered millions of dollars into MZM coffers, plus an incentive-rich package to lure MZM to his district.

We quite possibly have a bribery scandal brewing in Virginia, folks.  And it's up to the people of his district to decide whether such a scandal is too high a price to pay for a few hundred jobs.

Comments



I thought I read som (JC - 4/4/2006 11:33:06 PM)
I thought I read somewhere that Goode was also wrapped up in steering contracts for body armor to a Republican contributor in spite of the fact that a vastly superior form of body armor was available from a contractor that wasn't a Bush "Pioneer."

Anyone have any thoughts/details about this?



Without a perp walk, (Conaway - 4/4/2006 11:33:06 PM)
Without a perp walk, Virgil is still nearly unbeatable. Even so, the problem is whether Weed or Ewert can pull off an unlikely upset in the absence of a scandal that penetrates the Goode mystique (and yes, despite having lived outside of the 5th district for 10 years, I'm still under the spell of the man).

The way I see it, there are possibly 2 Democrats with enough gravitas and name ID who would appear to be credible Democratic alternatives to Virgil should he be damaged enough (or if the GOP put up another candidate). Those two are Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, who took his Senate seat, and former DOT Secretary Whitt Clement. They both look the part, sound the part, have the cultural affinity for and the resumes to represent the southern tier of the 5th.

I doubt that either man would take Virgil on directly, esp. Reynolds, who is a good friend of his. But, if Virgil is ever off the ballot, Reynolds can win that district. But, the GOP has a good bench with Frank Ruff, Clarke Hogan and Tommy Wright, to name a few.