I decided to do some digging after reading Rep. Cunningham's Plea Was Only the Start, keying in on one particular quote.
The link in all these strands isn't Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. It's San Diego businessman Brent Wilkes, described in Cunningham's plea agreement as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Even a simple search of public information could cause concern for current and former politicians on both sides of the aisle. Among others, names like (Lindsey) Graham, Robb, Obey, Hoekstra, Bilbray and even Inouye kicked out.
via the FEC: Total Contributions: $151210.00 and that's only a start. (If previous link is having trouble, go here and enter Wilkes / Brent. Take a look at this. ADCS INC. PAC Treasurer Name: Wilkes, Brent Mr. The details are here - that alone is over $100k. And while I can't claim to understand campaign finance, there are strange issues - like the precise sum of $1346 being given by several individuals all on the same day. It almost appears as though a larger sum, $15,000 or more was simply divided by eleven names.
I say that because the names of Arnold R. Borromeo and possibly his wife kick up. Borromeo was mentioned in a 2000 article on dubious campaign finance in San Diego. You'll want to read more of that article for names like Wilkes, Robb, Obey, Inouye and Cunningham, all linked together through money as far back as the nineties.
Wilkes is listed as personally contributing $40,000 to a variety of congressional campaigns, including those of San Diegoarea Republican congressmen Ron Packard, Brian Bilbray, and Randy "Duke" Cunningham; Democratic senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii; and Democratic Virginia senator Charles Robb.
Earlier this year, the ADCS Inc. political action committee received an advisory notice from the Federal Election Commission telling it that its April filing was overdue. In a letter dated May 15, 2000, ADCS controller Arnold R. Borromeo, who is the action committee's treasurer, responded that "we had some staff turnover in our office, and the filing of this form got lost in the shuffle."
The latest disclosure currently on file with the commission, covering the period between April 1 and June 30, shows that the committee had collected more than $13,000 in contributions for the year to date, of which Wilkes gave $5000, Borromeo $3000, and Joel G. Combs, listed as "Director-Bus. Dev.," $3000. The committee reported having a total of $62,790 in cash on hand. During the disclosure period, it reported making one donation, $1000, to the campaign of Brian Bilbray on June 1.
Individually, Combs has given a total of $25,000 to federal candidates over the past four years. Borromeo has contributed $5000. He and his wife have given a total of $5000 to the ADCS, Inc. political action committee. Other federal contributors over the past year who have listed their employer as ADCS include: Robert G. Wilkes, of Chula Vista and Carlsbad, who gave $5000 to the ADCS political action committee on December 31, 1999, as well as a total of $7000 to six congressional candidates, including Packard, Hunter, and Robb.
Other ADCS donors included Richard and Joan Bliss of Great Falls, Virginia, $6000 to Cunningham and Gilman; Cliff Rittel, San Diego, $2500 to the ADCS committee; Julie Rittel, $2500 to the committee; Summer L. Campos, $750 to the committee; Carlos D. Campos, $750 to the committee; and Mark Adams, of Alexandria, Virginia, $1000 to Robb.
In addition, the wife of Brent Wilkes, Regina, is listed as giving $5000 to the ADCS committee on December 31, 1999, as well as a total of $8200 to Robb, Hunter, Bilbray, and the Republican National Congressional Committee.
Other individuals with the last name Wilkes who have contributed to the ADCS committee include Jeffrey W. Wilkes of Chula Vista, listed as an ADCS employee, who gave the committee $2500 on December 27, 1999. During 1999, he also contributed $6000 to four candidates, including Hunter, Packard, Robb, and the Republican congressional committee.
Larry M. Wilkes of San Diego, listed as an employee of Foodmaker, gave $2500 to the ADCS committee on December 31, 1999, and a total of $4000 to Robb, Hunter, and the Republican congressional committee. Similarly, Marilyn Wilkes of Provo, Utah, listed as an employee of Seven Peaks Development, gave $2500 to the ADCS committee on December 27, 1999, and a total of $4000 to Robb, the "Lewis for Congress Committee," and a committee called "A lot of People for Dave Obey."
Though many of these ADCS-associated congressional campaign donors live hundreds and in some cases thousands of miles from San Diego, all of them -- along with additional ADCS employees, their spouses, and relatives -- have also chosen to contribute to the Ron Roberts for Mayor campaign. Though limited by the city's maximum contribution limit of $250, at least 25 ADCS-associated individuals gave a total of $9750 to Roberts through June 30, 2000, the latest date for which information is available.
ADCS spread its money around to politicians with names such as Brownback, (Lindsey) Graham (relatively high at $10,000), Domenici, Sessions, Mack, Hoekstra and plenty more. However, they circulated money in other ways, too - giving dollars to other committees, one especially caught my eye.
That committee gave money to some of the same individuals as ADCS, but what stood out was who else was giving to the committee. Given Brent Wilke's line of business, technology, names like Oricon, Digital System Resources, Trident Data Systems and others stood out because they gave large sums and may have been in related business lines. I'm not suggesting they did anything wrong, only that it appears as though that committee had some kind of a common goal.
ADCS gave to AMERICAN PROSPERITY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, and others, as well.
If you don't think we have problems with money in our politics, you might want to think, again.
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