Cunningham Scandal: Taxpayers to Pay for Wilkes Attorney

CUNNINGHAM SCANDAL

Wilkes gets use of attorney for the indigent at trial

By Jose Luis Jiménez
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 21, 2007

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes, charged with fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in government contracts, will have an attorney paid for by taxpayers.

U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns made the decision yesterday after reviewing documents detailing Wilkes’ finances that were submitted under seal by his attorney, Mark Geragos.

A lawyer from Federal Defenders of San Diego Inc., a nonprofit that represents indigent people accused of federal crimes, will represent Wilkes in the criminal case with co-defendant Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, the former third-highest-ranking official at the CIA.

The childhood friends are charged with numerous counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering stemming from the bribery scandal of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Rancho Santa Fe. Cunningham pleaded guilty in November 2005 to conspiracy and tax evasion after admitting he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. He was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

SNIP...

New York developer Thomas Kontogiannis pleaded guilty in February to one count of money laundering in connection with the Cunningham case and is cooperating with the government, according to court records. His guilty plea was kept secret until June, when Burns unsealed it, but key details remain sealed at the prosecution’s request.

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Wikipedia Edited by CIA Computers

Using Griffith's software, this author could identify 297 edits that can be tracked back to CIA IPs

Ludwig De Braeckeleer (Published 2007-08-17 14:33 (KST)

According to a CIA spokesperson, the U.S. Intelligence agency is editing Wikipedia pages in order to save Americans lives. Between June 29, 2004, and July 30, 2007, Wikipedia pages have been edited 297 times by some individual(s) using computers that belong to the CIA network.

Among the pages that were edited by the CIA individual(s), we find:

The 2003 invasion of Iraq (modified on 2004-11-09 15:57:47)

William Colby (modified on 2005-06-23 22:45:00, 2005-06-24 16:32:11, 2005-06-24 16:34:19 and 2006-06-20 18:32:45)

The Iraq Intelligence Commission (modified on 2005-06-30 21:27:22)

The Central Intelligence Agency (modified on 2005-07-18 17:54:46)

The United States Intelligence Community (modified on 2005-08-15 15:05:43)

Ahmed Chalabi (modified on 2005-12-09 18:13:04)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (modified on 2005-12-15 16:38:49)

The National Counter Terrorism Center (modified on 2005-12-22 16:24:26)

The National Security Council (modified on 2005-12-27 13:42:09 and 2005-12-27 13:44:14)

Porter J. Goss (modified on 2006-01-25 00:08:00 and 2006-01-25 00:10:10)

George Tenet (modified on 2006-02-10 10:36:53)

Kyle Foggo (modified on 2006-05-08 17:00:42)

Encryption (modified on 2006-10-27 16:41:05)

The list of Yale University student organizations (modified on 2007-01-23 23:54:42)

China and Weapons of Mass Destruction (modified on 2007-02-05 17:27:24)

The Director of National Intelligence (modified on 2007-04-24 20:07:24).

On May 8, 2006, I wrote the following in an OhmyNews article discussing the resignation of CIA former Director Porter Goss.

"Goss's 19-month tenure was marked by low morale at the agency, turf battles with the director of national intelligence, and a fair number of scandals.

Soon after his nomination, Goss appointed Michael Kostiw as executive director. Then, someone leaked embarrassing information about Kostiw's past. Kostiw had been forced to leave the CIA 20 years earlier. Two officers resigned in protest.

Goss picked Kyle Foggo to replace Kostiw. The CIA's inspector general is examining whether Foggo arranged for any contracts to be granted to companies associated with Brent R. Wilkes.

Wilkes is a contractor who had connections to Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The Congressman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption. Wilkes and Foggo are long-time friends. The agency confirmed that Foggo and Wilkes attended private poker games (also attended by a fair number of prostitutes) at a Washington hotel."

Upon hearing Goss's announcement, Foggo announced his resignation. On the same day this article was published in OhmyNews, someone, using a CIA computer (IP 198.81.129.194) edited the Wikipedia page of Kyle Foggo. The following innocent statement was added by the CIA user.

"He resigned from the CIA on May 8, 2006, stating that a new director should be able to choose his own deputies."

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http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=377662&rel_no=1

Wilkes gets use of attorney for the indigent at trial

EXCERPT...

Prosecutors accuse Foggo of using his CIA position to provide Wilkes with classified information that Wilkes used to obtain military contracts.

In return, Wilkes provided Foggo with expensive trips, high-priced meals and promised Foggo a job when he left the CIA, prosecutors say.

Burns removed Geragos from the case last month after the lawyer refused to undergo a background check that would allow him to see classified information in preparation for trial.

Federal Defenders of San Diego has several experienced lawyers who have cleared stringent background checks, Frank Mangan, the nonprofit's senior litigator said in an interview. The attorneys have worked on cases of enemy combatants accused of terrorism and who are being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Mangan said.

One of the office's 40 lawyers will appear with Wilkes at a hearing scheduled for next month. At that point, Burns is expected to set a new trial date in 2008.

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