House panels delay response to subpoenas

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Three House committees are delaying responding to grand jury subpoenas issued in connection with the bribery case against jailed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

The subpoenas were issued to the Appropriations, Armed Services and Intelligence committees by the federal grand jury in San Diego that has been considering evidence in a defense contracting investigation stemming from the Cunningham case.

The subpoenas set a Jan. 11 deadline for compliance but prosecutors and House lawyers have agreed to extend that until Jan. 31, congressional staffers said Tuesday.

The initial deadline was "obviously impossible to meet," said Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis. "I just got the job."

"We essentially have to dig into Republican files. We have no idea what's in there," Obey said.

The subpoenas for documents were disclosed in the Dec. 27 edition of the Congressional Record by the committee chairmen, as required by House rules. Those Republican chairmen have since handed over power to Democrats who now control the House.

Prosecutors in San Diego declined to comment.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, wouldn't say what the subpoenas ask for, but said he was concerned the scope was overly broad.

"It's pretty extensive ... I've got some concerns," Hoekstra said. He said House attorneys would negotiate their response with federal prosecutors.

The Justice Department has clashed with Congress in the past over the scope of its investigations of lawmakers.

The San Diego grand jury has been considering evidence against Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor identified as one of Cunningham's coconspirators.

Cunningham, a San Diego-area Republican, was sentenced in March to more than eight years in prison for accepting $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government business to Wilkes and others.

Investigators are also investigating Wilkes' childhood friend Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, a former high-ranking CIA official, for his role in the awarding of a government contract that went to Wilkes.

Also Tuesday, longtime Appropriations staffer Betsy Phillips confirmed she is cooperating with a grand jury subpoena for testimony in the case, but refused further comment.

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Associated Press Writer Allison Hoffman in San Diego contributed to this report.