Question re: Cunningham & defense contractors:

Okay, he's going to prison. Meantime, what happens to those defense contractors who gave him bribes? Are they fined, run out of business, smacked on the wrist - anything?

I've been wondering about that myself.

and subjected to civil and criminal sanctions.

http://www.essentialaction.org/anti-scofflaw/faq.html


Bushco repealed the anti-scofflaw rule!

May everyone of their criminal asses soon find itself in a richly deserved prison cell.

:argh:

admin's bottom line:

Drip, Drip, Drip
Eroding The Barriers To Corporate Crime

by Russel Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Common Dreams
January 27, 2002

Case in point: In late December of this past year, the Bush administration struck from the books a regulation that had considerable potential to deter corporate crime.

In a Christmas mini-coup, the administration repealed an anti-scofflaw rule that would have given federal contracting officials authority to deny contracts to repeat law-breaking corporations.

The contractor responsibility rule had been enacted following a tortuous process. Then-Vice President Al Gore floated the idea in 1997. A concerted campaign against the proposal led the administration to keep it on hold until 1999, when the Clinton White House formally issued clarifying rules to put the proposal into effect. Another corporate outcry led to it being put back on ice. Finally, the Clinton administration included the anti-scofflaw rule in the raft of regulations issued in its final days.

The rule went into effect on January 19, 2001. The Bush administration suspended implementation on January 20. The Christmas coup -- repealing the rule altogether -- was the last chapter in the defeat of the rule.

http://www.zmag.org/content/Economy/mokhiber_weissman_drip.cfm

where you lose the business and the contract is automatically turned over to the next bidder or whatever in the shortest possible turnaround time, to be determined by ethics committee or whatever?

I mean, what disincentive would people have from bribing if they still keep the business?

I do understand that Mitchell Wade (MZM CEO who also apparently bribed Katherine Harris etc., disposition as yet undetermined) can be convicted and stands to serve time as well?

I found this:
Friday, February 24, 2006; Posted: 2:00 p.m. EST (19:00 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A defense contractor admitted Friday that he paid a California congressman more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for millions more in government contracts.

Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring with former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to bribe the lawmaker with cash, cars and antiques, and to help him evade millions of dollars in tax liability.

<snip>

Wade is one of four coconspirators in the plea agreement and sentencing memorandum for Cunningham. The coconspirators are not named in court papers, but have been identified elsewhere.

MZM does classified intelligence work for the military. MZM's government contracts soared from less than $1 million a year to tens of millions of dollars annually in recent years.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/24/congressman.bribery.ap/

So. Mr. Wade is history, though I find it pretty spooky to see that "MZM does classified intelligence work for the military". If the bottom line is MONEY, then what's to keep Mr. Wade and his ilk from moving this "intelligence" to the wrong people for the right price? *sigh*. I'm embarassed to be as "naive" as I (apparently) am.
Did Bushco really repeal the Scofflaw rule? No surprise there, eh, just another notch on their treasonous belts.
I can't begin to express how much I loathe this pack of ghouls.
Thanks for being here, DU. Couldn't "make it here anymore" without ya'll!!

I asked her this very question when I talked to her today after the sentencing. She said these guys are definitely going down. They probably won't get as much time as Duke, although the maximum range of the sentence is longer - 20 years, I think she said.