Published December 8, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - Three Michigan Republicans said yesterday they will give to charity several campaign contributions from donors tied to a former California congressman who pleaded guilty to taking bribes.
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Reps. Joe Knollenberg and Candice Miller plan to return at least $10,000 in contributions connected to their former Republican House colleague, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned last week. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) donated $3,000 in contributions last week.
"I am shocked and greatly disappointed by the dealings of my former colleague. Because of these actions, a serious question of ethical responsibility has been brought to light," said Knollenberg, of Oakland County's Bloomfield Township.
Two House Republicans from Michigan who received similar contributions - Reps. Mike Rogers of Brighton and Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia - said they had no plans to return the money or donate it to charity.
Cunningham pleaded guilty last week to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government work to defense contractors. In a practice common among lawmakers, he had given colleagues money from his campaign account and a political action committee he created called the American Prosperity PAC.
Since Cunningham's plea, several House Republicans in Congress have donated the money to charity or disclosed plans to do so.
Miller, of Macomb County's Harrison Township, will donate $6,000 to a military-affiliated charity, said Miller's chief of staff, Jamie Roe. Records show Miller's campaign committee received $5,000 from the American Prosperity PAC in October 2002 and her PAC received a $1,000 contribution from a defense contracting company called ADCS Inc.
"She just felt it was the right thing to do," Roe said.
Knollenberg's campaign was reviewing several years of campaign finance records and did not immediately have the total amount it planned to give to a local food bank, said spokeswoman Jennifer Hing. Records show Knollenberg's campaign committee received $4,000 in June 2004 from Brent and Regina Wilkes.
Brent Wilkes headed ADCS Inc., which provided campaign cash and favors to Cunningham while reaping valuable contracts. The 33-page guilty plea filed in the case did not name the alleged conspirators, but details such as business addresses and occupations made some of their identities apparent. Hing said Knollenberg also received a contribution from ADCS but did not have the total.
Hoekstra donated $3,000 in contributions from Brent Wilkes and ADCS to the Ataxia Telangiectasia Children's Project, spokesman Dave Yonkman said.
Rogers received $6,000 in contributions from the American Prosperity PAC from 2000-02 and $2,000 in contributions from Cunningham's campaign committee, Friends of Duke Cunningham, in June 2001. He did not plan to return the money or donate it.
"It's long been spent, and those were legal contributions at the time," said Sylvia Warner, a Rogers spokeswoman.
McCotter received $5,000 from Cunningham's PAC in October 2002. He said in an interview that the funds had been legally raised and received and legally spent.























