From August until October 2004, Georgia Kontogiannis, the wife of alleged Duke Cunningham co-conspirator Thomas Kontogiannis, gave $18,000 to eighteen vulnerable Republican US House candidates, $1,000 each to: Thelma Drake, running from Virginia's second Congressional district, Jeffrey Lane Fortenberry, running from Nebraska, John Swallow, a Republican House candidate from Utah, Dave Reichert, (R-Washington state), Charles W. Dent (R-PA), Geoff Davis (R-Ken), Charles Boustany (R-Louisiana), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Penn), Jim Gerlach (R-Penn), and a few others. Georgia Kontogiannis is described as a retired homemaker. These are not her local candidates, or broad nationally known candidates. Who was directing these payments to these obscure, vulnerable national Republican candidates? Who gave the Kontogiannis the Republican House play map? These payments suggest a degree of connection to someone far more central to the GOP House machine than even Cunningham.

Posted by Laura at March 26, 2006 12:13 PM