Report: Cunningham helped contractors

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham parlayed his seat on the Intelligence Committee into winning at least $70 million in authorizations that benefited two contractors who — in turn — paid him millions in bribes.

That was a key finding, released Tuesday, in a declassified summary of a report by the panel's independent investigator. It confirms what has long been suspected: The intelligence committee was one more venue that the California Republican exploited to help his associates.

The report finds that Cunningham secured the cooperation — or at least the noninterference — of many people. That included Congress members who handled bills that govern the spending of contracts, Pentagon officials who awarded the contracts and officials at agencies where the contracting work was actually done.

"This was a lot of people to persuade, cajole, deceive, pressure, intimidate, bribe or otherwise influence to do what they wanted," the executive summary says.

California Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record), the committee's top Democrat, released the five-page document after months of disagreement with the committee's chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich.

"In light of this report, our committee must examine why 'red flags' did not trigger greater scrutiny of Cunningham's activities, and what can be done to prevent this type of abuse in the future," Harman said in a statement.

Cunningham, now in jail, pleaded guilty in November to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from his coconspirators — government contractors Mitch Wade and Brent Wilkes.