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>> >>PEGGY PICO: SEVENTYONE YEAR OLD RANDY DUKE CUNNINGHAM IS A FORMER NAVY PILOT.
HIS 15 YEARS IN CONGRESS ENDED AFTER HE WAS CONVICTED OF CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT BRIBERY,
TAX EVASION. HE ACCEPTED MORE THAN TWO MILLION DOLLARS
IN BRIBES FROM DEFENSE CONTRACTORS. EARNING HIM THE TITLE OF THE MOST CORRUPT
CONGRESSMAN IN AMERICA. MY GUEST WAS PART OF THE UNION TRIBUNE PULITZER
PRIZE TEAM WHICH EXPOSED HIS CRIMES AND LEAD TO HIS ARRESTS AND CONVICTION.
DEAN, WELCOME BACK. CUNNINGHAM WEPT AND EXPRESSED REMORSE, BUT
ON HIS WAY OUT OF COURT YOU HAD SAID HE DIDN'T REALLY SAY THAT WAS REALLY THE TRUTH, RIGHT?
>> >>DEAN CALBREATH: WHAT WE'VE HEARD IS ON THE WAY OUT OF COURT HE TURNED TO THE BAIL
F AND SAID THEY GOT THIS ALL WRONG. >> >>PEGGY PICO: AND HIS GUILTY PLEA WAS REALLY
A MISTAKE, RIGHT? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: IT WAS A MISTAKE, AND
HE WAS TALKED INTO IT BY HIS LAWYER. >> >>PEGGY PICO: REMIND US OF THE CHARGES
AGAIN. IN GENERAL, THIS WAS ABOUT HIM BASICALLY THE
LEGALITY OF HIM PROFITING AS A CONGRESSMAN? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: YEAH, BASICALLY, UM,
HE OVER SAW THE PENTAGON BUDGET, THE CIA BUDGET, HE HAD TWO CONTRACTORS� YOU KNOW, AND HE
WAS TAKING IN A LOT OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CONTRACTORS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY IN ORDER
TO ADVANCE THEIR CAUSES TO THE PENTAGON. THIS WENT BEYOND THAT.
HE WAS TAKING GIFTS FROM TWO PARTICULAR CONTRACTORS, ONE IN WASHINGTON, ONE IN POW POWAY, A TWO
AND A HALF MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE IN RANCHO SANTA FE, A ROLLS ROYCE, FANCY DINNERS, FANCY
VACATIONS, A COUPLE OF PROSTITUTES IN HAWAI'I. IT WAS A WIDE VARIETY OF THINGS.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY COMMODES, MULTI THOUSAND DOLLAR PERSIAN RUGS.
>> >>PEGGY PICO: PRETTY EXTRAVAGANT AND PRETTY VISIBLE.
IT WASN'T LIKE HE WAS HIDING THESE GIFTS. YOU WERE AT THE SAN DIEGO UNION AT THE TIME
YOU WROTE THIS WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER JOURNALISTS, MARCUS AND JERRY, WHAT PROMPTED YOU AT THE
BEGINNING? WHAT DID YOU SAY SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT HERE?
WAS THE THE ROLLS ROYCE OR SOMETHING ELSE? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: MARCUS STERN, A REPORTER
FOR US IN WASHINGTON D.C., HE WAS INVESTIGATING CUNNINGHAM FOR� HE WAS INVESTIGATING ALL
OUR LOCAL CONGRESSMEN FOR SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT, FOR AIRPLANE RIDES THEY HAD TAKEN.
WHETHER THEY HAD TAKEN ANY. CUNNINGHAM HAD TAKEN ONE, WHICH IS TOTALLY
UNRELATED TO THIS. WHEN HE FOUND OUT ABOUT THAT AIRPLANE RIDE
PAID FOR BY A LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR, HE STARTED LOOKING AT OTHER THINGS.
BUN OF THE THINGS HE LOOKED AT WAS HIS HOUSE. HE FOUND OUT THAT HIS HOUSE HAD�
>> >>PEGGY PICO: IN DEL MAR. >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: IN DEL MAR.
HE FOUND OUT HIS HOUSE IN DEL MAR HAD BEEN PURCHASED AT AN EXTRAVAGANT PRICE BY SOMEBODY
WHO HAD SOLD IT SIX MONTHS LATER AT A MAJOR LOSS.
AND THIS WAS AT A TIME WHEN PROPERTY IN SAN DIEGO WAS NOT GOING DOWN.
SO HE� MARCUS FOLLOWED THIS UP AND FOUND OUT THIS WAS A MILITARY CONTRACTOR WHO HAD
BASICALLY BEEN BEEN KIND OF PAYING OFF CUNNINGHAM WITH THIS OVERAGE ON THE HOUSE�
>> >>PEGGY PICO: THE INFLATED SALE OF HIS HOUSE SO THAT PERKED YOUR EARS.
>> >>DEAN CALBREATH: EXACTLY. IT WENT ON FROM THERE. HE FOUND A SMALL YAWT YACHT THE CONTRACTOR
PURCHASED AND IT JUST WENT ON AND ON AND ON. >> >>PEGGY PICO: DID YOU ACTUALLY TALK TO
CUNNINGHAM WHEN YOU WERE DOING THIS STORY? DID YOU TELL THEM Y WE GOT THIS INFORMATION,
WOULD YOU TALK TO ME? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: I TALKED TO HIM.
I TALKED TO HIM ABOUT� I WAS TALKING TO HIM ABOUT MILITARY CONTRACTS AS WELL AND HE
WAS HAPPY TO BE ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS. I TURNED IT TO A FREE VACATION WHERE HE COULD
WRECKED AN ATV THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO HIM BY ONE OF THE BRIBERS. HE ANSWERED A FEW QUESTIONS
ON THAT AND THEN SAID SORRY YOU'VE GOT TO TALK TO MY LAWYER.
>> >>PEGGY PICO: WHEN YOU TOLD HIM THIS WAS GOING TO BE PUBLISHED AND HE ANYHOW THIS IS
TURNING INTO AN INVESTIGATION, DID HE EVER RESPOND AND SAY WOW, DID I BLOW IT.
DID HE TELL YOU ANYTHING LIKE THAT? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: NO. HE TALKED�
THE MAIN CONVERSATION WAS MARK STERN AND HE MARK STERN THAT HE HAD DONE SOME FAVORS IN
WASHINGTON FOR ONE OF THE BRIBERS. AND TO THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT CONSTITUTED QUID
QUO PRO, A LEGAL DEFINITION OF BRIBERY. SO MARK STERN WROTE A STORY ABOUT THAT: THAT
WAS THE INITIAL STORY. >> >>PEGGY PICO: HE'S GOING TO BE ON PROBATION
FOR THREE YEARS, I UNDERSTAND THAT HE MIGHT BE MOVING TO A CABIN IN ARKANSAS.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING U ABOUT HIS PLANS? >> >>DEAN CALBREATH: A YEAR AGO HE SAID HE
WAS GOING TO MOVE TO A CABIN IN ARKANSAS NEAR HIS HUNDRED YEAR OLD MOTHER AND HIS BROTHER.
NOW IT TURNS OUT MORE RECENTLY HE SAID HE'S GOING TO GO TO FLORIDA AND BE WITH SOME OLD
NAVY COLLEAGUES. HE'S NOT COMING BACK TO SAN DIEGO.
>> >>PEGGY PICO: OKAY, AND WE HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING FOR SURE.
DEAN CALBREATH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK ON THIS AND FOR GIVING US AN UPDATE.
>> >>DEAN CALBREATH: SURE ENOUGH.