Crew Files FOIA On Cunningham And MZM

For Immediate Release June 20, 2005 Contact: Naomi Seligman, 202-588-5565 CREW FILES FOIA ON CUNNINGHAM AND MZM WITH DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request today with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and with the Department of Defense to garner any communications between Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) and Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) regarding MZM, Inc. Or Mitchell Wade, from January 1, 2001, to the present. “By filing these FOIAs, we hope to learn if Representatives Cunningham or Goode used their positions to help win lucrative defense contracts for Mr. Wade and MZM.,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. Congressman Cunningham has come under intense scrutiny for his latest actions. First, it was discovered that Cunningham sold his house at a vastly inflated value to Wade. Next came the revelation that, in Washington, Cunningham is living aboard a 42-foot yacht, named the “Duke Stir,” owned by Wade. This was followed by news reports that Cunningham has supported Wade and MZM in efforts to win Pentagon contracts, that MZM and Wade have donated at least $20,000 to political action committees associated with Cunningham, and that Cunningham is involved with charities that have ties to MZM. There are news reports of both FBI and federal grand jury investigations into Cunningham’s relationship with MZM and Wade. As of today, no Member of Congress has filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee requesting an investigation into Rep. Cunningham’s relationship with MZM and Wade. Without a complaint filed against Cunningham, the Ethics Committee is under no obligation to conduct an investigation. CREW would file such a complaint, but the House prohibits anyone other than a Member of the House from doing so. Cunningham can now be added to the growing list of Members – i.e. Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) – whose egregious conduct has failed to elicit either an ethics complaint or an ethics investigation. “We ask House Members to root out corruption in the House and file a complaint against Representative Cunningham in order to trigger an investigation by the ethics committee,” Sloan said today. (CREW) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.