Cunningham defender just getting started

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Friday, June 24, 2005 11:15 PM PDT ∞

A high-powered Washington attorney U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham has hired to defend his dealings with a Washington defense contractor said Friday he couldn't talk about many of the case details because he "hadn't gotten his hands dirty on this thing yet."

The attorney, K. Lee Blalack, did say in a telephone interview that he expected to begin producing records within about a week showing that Cunningham paid dock and maintenance fees in lieu of rent to defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade to stay aboard Wade's yacht when the lawmaker is in Washington.

Cunningham's ties to Wade and Wade's company, MZM Inc., are at the heart of the questions that have been raised since it was reported earlier this month that Wade also had purchased Cunningham's Del Mar Heights home in 2003. Eleven months later, Wade sold the home for $700,000 less than what he paid Cunningham.

The FBI and U.S. attorney's office are reportedly investigating the transaction and whether Cunningham used his position in Congress to steer defense contracts to Wade, who Cunningham said is also a personal friend.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office refused Friday to say whether an investigation was ongoing.

Blalack, a partner in the Washington firm O'Melveny & Myers with connections on Capitol Hill, said financial records are being assembled that support Cunningham's Thursday statement that he paid $13,000 in dock and maintenance fees in lieu of traditional rent to stay aboard Wade's boat. The boat is named the "Duke-Stir," a reference to Cunningham's nickname.

"We are pulling together the bank records, canceled checks and check stubs," Blalack said. "That should take about another week or so."

The attorney refused to comment on whether he helped prepare the statement Cunningham issued Thursday addressing his dealings with Wade. He also refused to say whether a legal defense fund for Cunningham has been established and declined to disclose his hourly billing rate.

"The day will come soon when I can comment, but it's too early for me to start talking to the press," Blalack said.

Blalack made reference to a team already at work to defend Cunningham, who in his statement acknowledged that a "legal inquiry was under way." He would not provide specifics about the legal team.

This isn't the first time Blalack has represented Cunningham. He also represented the 63-year-old congressman and former Navy fighter pilot in a 2003 ethics case that alleged Cunningham and other lawmakers pressured Rep. Nick Smith to vote in favor of a Medicare reform bill.

Cunningham and the others were alleged to have said they would work against Smith's son, who was running for a congressional seat at the time. Cunningham was absolved of any wrongdoing in that case.

Blalack served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the first Persian Gulf war. He said he has high regard for Cunningham, one of the Vietnam War's most highly decorated fighter pilots who went on to instruct pilots at the Navy's Top Gun flight school at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

"I admire him a great deal," Blalack said. "He is an American hero and a hell of a guy."

The attorney said he has never met Wade.

O'Melveny & Myers specializes in representing targets of congressional and regulatory investigations, according to the firm's Web site. Before entering private practice, Blalack worked for two Senate committees, including a stint as counsel to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.

His clients have included Ford Motor Co., ImClone Systems, and Harvard University, in each case representing them in connection with congressional investigations.

The magazine "Washingtonian" recently recognized him as one of the Beltway's top lawyers.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.