Admitted Cunningham Briber Mitchell Wade Testifies in Brent Wilkes case

Admitted Briber Wade Takes The Stand
By Paul Kiel - October 15, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004454.php

... Friday, Mitchell Wade (http://tpmmuckraker.com/ref/wade.php) took the stand ... the government's star witness in its case against Brent Wilkes.....

.... "Wade insinuated himself so close to Cunningham that, he testified, he kept a stack of blank stationery with Cunningham's letterhead in his MZM office. He would use it to write letters and memos that Cunningham dutifully signed." Of course, Cunningham being a little slow on his feet, Wade had to (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/13/news/top_stories/15_13_2210_12_07.txt) "spell out for Duke exactly what he had to say" when Wade needed him to lean on Pentagon officials who weren't following through on contracts Cunningham had earmarked.

As an answer to that testimony, Wilkes' lawyer Mark Geragos reminded jurors that Wade was angling for a better sentence by admitting to the bribery. And he tried to draw a distinction between Wade and Wilkes by having Wade admit that Wilkes didn't know about Wade's gifts to Cunningham. He was also at pains to show that Wade supplanted Wilkes as Cunningham's favorite.

It's clear that the story Geragos wants jurors to believe is that Wilkes just played the game (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004420.php) the way it's always played in Washington -- and Wade, that "absolute devil," took it way too far. I remain curious of how Geragos plans to demonstrate that Wilkes' courtship of Cunningham was business as usual in the capital.

Duke Cunningham: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/duke_cunningham/
Brent Wilkes: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/brent_wilkes/

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20071013-9999-1n13wilkes.html