Hookergate

First there was Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the California Republican congressman bribed by defense contractors Brent Wilkes (allegedly) and Mitchell Wade (admittedly). Now we're beginning to see just how far this story goes — Cunningham was about as much of an isolated incident as Abu Ghraib was the result of a few "bad apples." If you've been following the news this weekend, you know that collateral damage from the scandal seems to have hastened CIA Director Porter Goss's departure and appears to implicate the CIA's number three man, Kyle Foggo, directly. This New York Times piece nicely sums up the story so far. The latest twist involves defense contractors throwing poker parties for congressmen and Department of Homeland Security employees (among others) at some of Washington's tonier hotels — parties that included prostitutes. TPM Muckraker has an extensive file on the scandal, or complex of scandals, they're calling "Hookergate." (Though the hookers, so far, are the least remarkable thing about the affair.)

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