This LTE from the August 24, 2006, edition of the Nelson County Times was written by Afton resident, Pete Perdue. Pete is extremely soft-spoken, gracious and always pleasant. He is retired from the Navy and is very active in our community. Pete does a wonderful job of summing up the MZM scandal and simply asking for accountability to Virginia voters on the part of Virgil Goode. The Nelson paper doesn't put the LTEs online, so here is Pete's letter. Congressman Virgil Goode is accused of never taking the initiative to sponsor legislation although he has served close to 10 years in Congress. Voters of the 5th Congressional District owe Goode a profound apology.
Goode did take the initiative to earmark legislation to fund the Foreign Supplier Assessment Center (FASC) in Martinsville. FASC's operaton provided a fifth level of redundancy for checking on the ownership of foreign companies that do business with the pentagon. Four government entities were already providing this service, including the National Security Agency.
The Pentagon awarded the original contract to MZM. The contract was later sold to Athena Innovative Solutions. The former president of MZM, Mitchell Wade, and former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham are not Boy Scout leaders. Between the two, both have pleaded guilty to accepting multimillion-dollar bribes, underreporting income, federal charges of conspiracy to committ bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion, and election contribution fraud. Rocket science is not required to deduce when these two characters congregate a crime has been or is about to be committed.
Just recently, Richard Berglund, former director of Athena's Martinsville office pleaded guilty to sanitizing Wade's campaign contributions to Goode. Money was passed from MZM-Wade to Goode camouflaged as donations from Athena employees. Clearly, FASC was setup as a front to laundry illegal campaign contributions to Goode.
Goode, a strong opponent of government waste and a law school graduate, should possess the intuitive instincts and intelligence to know when something smells. This brazen act firmly entrenches Goode in the Republican culture of corruption pervading Washington. Accepting donations from the MZM-Wade-Berglund cartel shows Goode has elevated his fundraising efforts to the big tent. This was not just "soft money," but "bag money."
Goode knew his actions were unethical and illegal. He put himself beyond the rule of law at least three times: by earmarking legislation to fund illegal activities, by accepting a kickback in the way of illegal campaign contributions and by ostensibly donating the bag money to charity to escape punishment. The example he has set is "Do wrong until you are caught. If you are caught, return the ill gotten gains and no crime has been committed."
After this scandal broke, the Pentagon, stating the service provided by FASC had not been requested nor was it needed, hastily decided not to renew the Athena Innovative Solutions contract.
Goode is encouraged to come forward and explain to the voters his motivation for earmarking our tax dollars to fund an operaton replete with waste, fraud and a whole plethora of dishonest activities. He needs to explain why his conduct is above the law. He needs to explain how his actions don't mesh with President Bush's pledge to restore honor and integrity to government.
Thanks, Kathy for bringing this to us. Tell Pete for me that his is the best letter I have seen this season.
But when the state puts money (your money, actually) into such a project, the company has to agree to meet certain targets - in the number of jobs, the dollar value of investment - or pay the money back. The state gave Martinsville $500,000 to help with the project, but MZM balked at the payback terms. So Goode suggested the city of Martinsville agree to repay the state up to $500,000 if MZM failed to meet its performance goals.Can you imagine? A city promising to cover the obligations of a corporate beneficiary of public money? Especially under a circumstance that involves a cozy relationship between the fellow pushing for that promise and the corporation getting the benefit?
Guess what: MZM (now under different ownership) didn't meet its goals. Only 30 jobs materialized, instead of the 75 promised, and the company's investment in the building fell short of the requirement. Then the Department of Defense announ-ced it isn't renewing the contract. It's hard to say whether the controversy and illegal activity hastened its demise - and Martinsville's loss. Will Martinsville have to pay up, in full or in part? Or will the state eat the cost of failure, spreading it across all Virginians? Stay tuned.