Federal grand jury issues document subpoena to Rep. Cunningham
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer June 29, 2005

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents from Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham related to the eight-term Republican's home sale to a defense contractor at what may have been an inflated $1.675 million price.

Cunningham's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, disclosed the subpoena Tuesday in a brief written statement without specifying what documents were sought. Blalack said Cunningham directed him to comply expeditiously.

Cunningham's office directed questions to Blalack who, reached by phone, declined further comment. The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego also declined comment.

Cunningham, a former Navy "Top Gun" fighter pilot whose district includes wealthy suburbs north of San Diego, sold his home in 2003 to Mitchell Wade, a campaign contributor, close friend and executive of MZM Inc. - a defense contractor that was enjoying a rush of new business with the Pentagon.

Wade bought Cunningham's home in the wealthy coastal community of Del Mar in November 2003. Soon after, Wade put the house back on the market and it sold after nearly a year for $975,000 - a loss of $700,000 in one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

A person familiar with the subpoena, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, confirmed it involved the home sale which has been the subject of press reports. The congressman has also lived part-time on Wade's boat, named the Duke-Stir, that was docked on the Potomac River.

Cunningham, 63, has said that he showed "poor judgment," but added he acted honestly and predicted that an investigation would prove that.

The congressman is a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both of which oversee the kind of classified intelligence work Washington, D.C.-based MZM does for the military.

The Defense Department halted orders this month on a five-year contract that provided MZM with $163 million of revenue over its first three years after the department's inspector general found that it did not satisfy rules on competitiveness. U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis, a California Republican who chaired the defense appropriations subcommittee until this year, said Tuesday that programs approved under his leadership had military value and "passed the smell test." I hope this trail of sleazy corruption leads to Jerry Lewis as well.

Separately on Tuesday, MZM overhauled its management team after several weeks of new reports connecting the company to the federal investigation of Cunningham.

In a brief statement, MZM said James C. King, a retired three-star Army general, was taking over as president and chief executive - a role held for years by Wade, who founded the company in 1993.