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WASHINGTON D.C. -- Congresswoman
Jane Harman (D-Venice), Ranking Member on the House Intelligence
Committee, today issued the following statement on the release of the
Executive Summary of the Committee’s Special Counsel Report on Former
Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham. The Executive Summary is attached:
In January 2006, Chairman Peter Hoekstra and I announced an internal
investigation to determine whether Duke Cunningham improperly used
Committee staff or resources to facilitate the bribery scheme for which
he was convicted and sentenced to prison.
The Chairman and I hired an outside non-partisan Special Counsel,
Michael Stern, to conduct the inquiry. Stern completed a 59-page
report in May and briefed the full Committee shortly thereafter.
In July, at the request of the Chairman and me, Stern produced a
shorter 23-page, unclassified version of his findings, as well as a
5-page Executive Summary.
For the last several months, completion and release of the Report
has been held up over a disagreement between the Chairman and me
regarding subpoenaing Duke Cunningham. The Chairman and I agreed
that we would subpoena Cunningham; however, the Chairman then decided
not to issue the subpoena, a decision with which I strongly disagree.
A subpoena will increase the likelihood that we will obtain
Cunningham’s testimony and his cooperation. Given the extent of
the damage he caused the taxpayers and our Committee, sparing
Cunningham the embarrassment of having to assert his 5th Amendment
rights is not a goal our Minority members and I share. I also
think it is totally inappropriate for the Chairman to be in contact
with Cunningham, which he has been.
Earlier this month, Chairman Hoekstra confirmed to me that “it would
be appropriate to publicly release a mutually agreeable version of the
five page summary of the report.” He further indicated that such
a “summary would satisfy the public interest by providing an overview
of the factual findings and conclusions of the Special Counsel.”
He indicated that he would direct Stern to finalize such a summary, and
that we would work jointly “to facilitate its release as soon as
possible.”
Stern’s unclassified summary was finalized on Friday, October 13,
2006, and transmitted to the Committee at that time. I have
invited Chairman Hoekstra to join me in releasing it.
The Report speaks for itself.
In light of this Report, our Committee must examine why ‘red flags’
did not trigger greater scrutiny of Cunningham’s activities, and what
can be done to prevent this type of abuse in the future.
The 23-page unclassified version provides additional important
details, but it contains some information that cannot be released under
Committee rules.
LINK TO THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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