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October 7, 2006

House Intelligence Committee - Silence!

P
eter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intel Committee, has apparently refused to subpoena convicted former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham as part of a House investigation into whether Cunningham abused his position on that committee in accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.

Hoekstra's rationale, apparently, is Cunningham -- whom Hoekstra has also apparently been communicating with secretly -- will refuse to discuss what he did by invoking his 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

My understanding is that Cunningham, having already pled guilty to accepting numerous bribes, no longer can invoke his 5th Amendment privilege on this general subject.

Why would Hoekstra refuse to even try to subpoena a former House member and Intel Committee member who's already admitted exploiting his position on that committee as well as its secrecy rules to repeatedly accept bribes from beneficiaries of federal largess? Hmmm . . . this is a hard one.

Posted by shertaugh at October 7, 2006 4:17 PM