Is this a great country or what! Duke keeps his pension

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Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:52:12 EST

Is this a great country or what! Duke keeps his pension

 

 

 

 

˜Duke " keeps his pension

By Jackie Kucinich

 

Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) will soon relinquish many of

his properties and his freedom after pleading guilty to charges of

fraud and conspiracy, but he will keep his government pension and

could retain the privileges enjoyed by other former members of Congress.

 

Cunningham has served in the House 17 years, and his right to his

federal pension will not be affected by his crimes, according to a

senior House aide familiar with the rules. He will also receive

benefits accrued during his service in the U.S. Navy, in which he

served from 1966 to 1987.

 

Ordinarily, upon leaving Congress, former House members, like former

senators, get lifetime floor privileges, access to the gym and a

parking space.

 

“The Speaker’s office has yet to receive his letter of

resignation,†said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for Speaker Dennis

Hastert (R-Ill.), but he added that the office expects the letter

soon. “We are looking at this matter very seriously,†he said.

 

Cunningham’s access to the usual privileges has not been discussed,

Bonjean said.

 

The Federal Elections Commission allowed Cunningham to use campaign

funds to pay legal fees, according to a source close to the

congressman. It was not clear how much was in Cunningham’s war chest

before the investigation. Cunningham had $627,388 on hand as of Sept.

30, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.

 

Cunningham’s congressional office will continue to function under

the supervision of the clerk of the House until a new member has been

elected for California’s 50th District, according to Harmony Allen,

Cunningham’s chief of staff, who released a statement yesterday

expressing the staff members’ sorrow for their former boss and his

family.

 

“The office will not comment any further on [Monday’s] proceedings

other than to say that we are praying for Duke in these exceedingly

difficult times,†Allen said. “The office is working closely with

the clerk of the House to ensure that the needs of the constituents of

the 50th District of California are met throughout this transition.â€

 

A source familiar with the situation in Cunningham’s office, which

will become the office of the 50th District of California once the

formal resignation process has concluded, said that while most staff

members are not “rushing out the door,†they are looking for

positions elsewhere in preparation for the changeover to a new member.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ® has 14 days from Cunningham’s

official resignation to set the date for the special election.

 

Cunningham, a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense

and Intelligence subcommittees, announced Monday that he will resign

from Congress after he pleaded guilty in a California district court

to charges of tax evasion and conspiracy. He will be sentenced Feb. 27

and could receive up to five years in prison on each of the two

counts. In entering a guilty plea, he admitted taking $2.4 million in

bribes.

 

“Some time ago, I asked my lawyers to inform the U.S. Attorney Carol

Lam that I would like to plead guilty and begin serving a prison

term,†Cunningham said during his emotional statement Monday.

“Today is the culmination of that process. … I will continue to

cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation to the best

of my ability.â€

 

In 2002, former Ohio Rep. James Traficant (D) was convicted on 10

counts of racketeering, fraud and bribery. He is serving an eight-year

sentence in Summit County Jail in Akron, Ohio.

 

In 2003, after Traficant was expelled from Congress, a handful of

House Republicans introduced a bill that would prevent any lawmaker

from receiving a congressional pension after being expelled.

Currently, only members convicted of “high crimes†such as treason

can lose their pensions.

 

Republican Reps. Jeff Miller (Fla.) Ginny Brown-Waite (Fla.), Howard

Coble (N.C.), Joe Pitts (Pa.) and Lee Terry (Neb.) sponsored the

legislation. It stalled after being sent to the House Administration

and Government Reform committees for action.

 

 

" Propaganda is persuading people to make up their minds while

withholding some of the facts from them. "

Harold Evans