Katherine Harris and MZM

In the charges released yesterday against Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) by the United States Attorney in San Diego, the man identified in the ‘information’ as "Co-conspirator #2" is none other than Mr. Mitchell Wade, formerly CEO and founder of MZM, Inc., the man whose sweetheart purchase of Cunningham’s house was the thread that started Duke’s skein of corruption unravelling.

Now, Mitchell Wade has since left MZM to spend more time with his lawyers. But before his high-flying life as a corrupt defense contractor came to a grinding halt last summer he was into more than Duke Cunningham. Wade’s MZM was in deep with Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL). So deep in fact that, that in a story at TPM back on June 21st, Harris once had a one day haul of $28,000. Fourteen checks for $2,000 a pop, each from a different MZM employee, each received on March 23rd, 2004. (MZM employees later claimed these contributions were coerced.)

A week later Wade’s wife chipped in two more checks for $2,000 each.