Spying ON Cheney? Or bribing BY Cheney?

This piece expands upon an idea I suggested more than a year ago. Why did MZM -- the defense contractor (now called Athena) which, under Mitchell Wade's leadership, gained so much notoriety for its role in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham bribery scandal -- get a White House contract in 2002 to provide office furniture and computer equipment?

MZM is known for its work in the fields of data mining and eavesdropping -- a resume which makes that firm an odd choice to go on a furniture-shopping expedition.

Unless...

Unless the furniture was bugged.

What we know now (which I did not know before) is that the furniture -- if ever it truly existed -- was meant for the Office of the Vice President.

Think Progress has offered an alternative theory: The "furniture" was just a ruse. Cheney was funneling money intended to purchase the favors of now-disgraced Congressman "Duke" Cunningham.

– Wade’s company MZM Inc. received its first federal contract from the White House. The contract, which ran from July 15 to August 15, 2002, stipulated that Wade be paid $140,000 to “provide office furniture and computers for Vice President Dick Cheney.”

– Two weeks later, on August 30, 2002, Wade purchased a yacht for $140,000 for Duke Cunningham...

– According to Cunningham’s sentencing memorandum, the purchase price of the boat had been negotiated through a third-party earlier that summer, around the same time the White House contract was signed.

The coincidence in figures is striking indeed, as is the timing.

Call me ornery, but I'm not yet convinced by this new theory. Why would Dick Cheney make sure that White House funds boosted MZM? What would be Cheney's personal interest in Mitchell Wade's firm? Why that firm and no other?

Admittedly, we have this intriguing data point from the Center For Public Integrity:

MZM refused to provide any information, however, about its corporate structure, including names of other principals.

Far as we know, then, Dick Cheney -- or a surrogate -- may own the damn place (which, as few people know, began life as a law firm, of all things). I don't think he does. But who can prove otherwise, given our current state of knowledge?

I would remind readers that the yacht was hardly the only gift Wade made to Cunningham. So the bribe money did not all come out of the White House operating budget.

Also note that the Think Progress version is quite simplified when compared to the original Washington Post account:

But over the past three years it was also awarded several contracts, worth more than $600,000, by the Executive Office of the President. They include a $140,000 deal for office furniture in 2002 and several for unspecified "intelligence services."

Think Progress also does not note the probably-relevant fact that the Chief Procurement Officer for the White House was, at that time, David Savafian, arrested for his part in the Abramoff scandal.

The afore linked piece offers this haunting quote from a letter sent by an imprisoned Cunningham to reporters:

You are wrong about one thing in your letter. Wade not Wilkes has destroyed a lot of people. I cannot discuss the case – your attempts to question lets me know you don’t give a hoot for me or my family. 90% of what has happened is Wade.

These words raise some very good questions:

Cunningham is in prison, and will probably stay there for the rest of his life. The worst that could possibly happen to him has already happened, or so one would think. Why does he refuse to discuss the case, to discuss a man he now despises? Why does he seem so afraid for himself and his family?

And why did Mitchell Wade -- a man Cunningham calls "an absolute devil" -- provide office furniture for Dick Cheney?

So, we have two choices: Either MZM really did provide desks and (perhaps) bugging devices for the OVP -- or someone linked to the OVP used nonexisent "furniture" as a ruse to fund a congressman's boat.

Which scenario gets your vote?