Cunningham Says He Rents Yacht

Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-San Diego) promised Thursday to produce financial records to prove that he has done nothing inappropriate by living aboard a yacht owned by the executive of a defense firm that he has supported in its bid to win government contracts.

Though declining to be interviewed, Cunningham issued a statement from his Washington office: “I am putting information and records together so that you will know how much I pay to stay there and you will see that everything we’ve done is appropriate.”

The statement was issued in response to a story in the North County Times, a newspaper in Cunningham’s district, reporting that Cunningham lives aboard a yacht owned by Mitchell J. Wade, president and chief executive of MZM Inc., while in Washington.

The 42-foot yacht is docked at a yacht club on the Potomac River at a boat slip rented by Cunningham.

His own boat is being repaired.

The congressman’s real estate dealings with Wade have become a matter of contention along partisan lines. Wade bought Cunningham’s home in the upscale Del Mar Heights section of San Diego in November 2003 for $1,675,000.

Wade put the home on the market a month later and in July 2004 sold it for $975,000, a $700,000 loss. Democrats have suggested that Wade may have paid an inflated price to reward a congressman who has supported his firm’s bid to get involved in the lucrative and highly competitive world of defense contracting.

Wade’s firm, which does classified intelligence work, received $40 million in contracts in 2003.

Cunningham, 63, an eight-term member of Congress, sits on the Intelligence Committee and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Free, unreported rent would be a violation of ethics laws for members of Congress.

The district, centered in the coastal communities of northern San Diego County, is considered a lock for Republicans, with the GOP enjoying a 45% to 30% registration edge over Democrats.

In November, Cunningham defeated Democratic candidate Francine P. Busby 58.5% to 36.5%, with the rest of votes split among American Independent, Green and Libertarian candidates. Busby has announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination for next year’s election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Thursday that it planned to target the district, a move that usually means enhanced funding and campaign assistance for the party candidate.