The Sweet Smell of Corruption

Brent Wilkes, who was convicted in November 2007 of bribing former U.S. Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, was recently sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison. But getting caught bribing the chair of the House Defense Appropriations sub-committee in exchange for having over $90 million in federal funds directed to his defense contracting firm is only the tip of the iceberg for what this inside-the Beltway operator was able to accomplish over the course of the past decade.

Representative Rick Renzi, the Arizona state co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign, was recently indicted on 35 counts of corruption, including fraud, money laundering, and extortion. Rep. Renzi had been under investigation for over two years. The Republican House leadership made no effort to hide its displeasure at his actions.