Lutz: Reopen investigations halted when Lam was dismissed by the Bush Justice Department – including those linking Rep. Duncan L. Hunter to felons Randy Duke' Cunningham, Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes.
[[Common.VoteRayLutz][Vote Ray Lutz]], [[Common.CitizensOversight][Citizens Oversight]] (2010-06-02) RayLutz
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Linde Martin Snyder - linde@spoos.com
Lutz: Reopen investigations halted when Lam was dismissed by the Bush Justice Department -- including those linking Rep. Duncan L. Hunter to felons Randy Duke' Cunningham, Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes.
Ray Lutz, candidate for U.S. Congress in the 52nd District of California, praises the confirmation of Laura Duffy to fill the U.S. Attorney position once held by Carol Lam.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY (June 2, 2010) -- "We are happy to learn that Laura Duffy, the candidate recommended by Barbara Boxer, has been quickly confirmed by the Senate to fill the U.S. Attorney position once held by Carol Lam, who was surprisingly dismissed after she successfully prosecuted Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes," said Ray Lutz, candidate for the U.S. Congress in the 52nd Congressional District.
Instead of earning an award, Lam, after successfully prosecuting the Cunningham bribery scandal, was suddenly and "inappropriately" dismissed.. This unusual dismissal implied that there was more to be uncovered by the U.S. Attorneys office -- had they continued the investigation. Especially disturbing were the actions of Representative Duncan L. Hunter, longtime friend of Cunningham, who was responsible for the "DUNCAN HUNTER NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009," signed by the Bush administration, and then went on an unexpected presidential campaign, only to leave the 52nd congressional seat to his son, who conveniently has the same name as his father -- except for the middle initial.
"It is our hope that the U.S. Attorney's office will now go back to the trail not investigated after Lam was dismissed and the office redirected by the Bush Administration to focus primarily on border crimes, and produce a report that clearly states that the office has reviewed those lines of investigation. Rep. Duncan Hunter was good friends with Cunningham, and the many dirty earmarks Hunter inserted into the budget leaves one to guess that Hunter was also involved in this scandal. When Lam was inappropriately dismissed under very unusual circumstances, that effectively shut down the investigation. She only just barely was able to get the indictments filed prior to leaving the office.
"This investigation must be reopened and Hunter indicted and thrown into jail with his friend Cunningham if he was also involved. Justice must be served. No one should be above the law," Lutz said.
Ray Lutz is running against Duncan D. Hunter in the 52nd Congressional District. "We won't lie. If Hunter is appropriately indicted for any crimes he may have committed, his son will likely suffer the consequences as well. He used the name confusion to get him into office in the first place, a seat he never would have won on his own experience and knowledge. If his father is indicted, he will likely suffer a loss in the election -- the name can work both ways."
BACKGROUND
In 2002, Lam was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California by George W. Bush.
Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28, 2005, after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under reporting his income for 2004. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. On March 3, 2006, he received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution. Lam led the corruption prosecution of Cunningham.
According to the July 2007 edition of Pacific Flyer, Hunter and Cunningham had pressured the Department of Defense to "... advise DARPA to put an immediate halt to bureaucratic delays and get on with the DuPont Aerospace DP-2 testing." The DP-2 is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing, or VTOL, aircraft designed by DuPont Aerospace to transport special operations forces, but has been repeatedly rejected by the United States Navy, United States Army, United States Air Force, NASA, and DARPA. The design, of which all four constructed models have crashed, has had $63 million appropriated to it since 1991, not including a suggested $6 million for fiscal year 2008. Despite the rejections and reports by multiple military and civilian experts that the aircraft will not fly or hover and will incinerate Special Operations forces rappelling out of the aircraft, Hunter has allegedly repeatedly added funding for the DP-2 in "earmarks" and defended the aircraft in recent testimony to the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology. Hunter received $36,000 in donations from DuPont Aerospace.
In 2007, Lam was asked to resign by the Bush Administration. Days before leaving her post, on February 13, 2007, Lam indicted former CIA executive director Kyle Foggo, charged with fraud and other offenses in the Cunningham corruption investigation. The indictment also named Brent R. Wilkes and John T. Michael.
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