Brand new book by the team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting is in stores and available at Amazon.com now.
Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreath, and George E. Condon Jr. uncover new details in a story still unfolding in Washington.
Former U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke†Cunningham funneled tens of millions of dollars in post-9/11 contracts in exchange for millions in bribes. Through diligent, old-fashioned reporting, Stern and his team uncovered the paper trail and exposed this corrupt politician.
The Wrong Stuff chronicles Cunningham's rise and his sordid fall. It is the saga of a man who came to believe his own press clippings and developed an enormous sense of self-entitlement, a man strong enough to brave enemy fire but too weak to resist the corrupt contractors and lobbyists in the nation's capital.
It is also the story of the shadowy side of Washington today. More than just the story of one crooked politician, this is an inside look at how our system allowed this to happen.
The Wrong Stuff provides the context for Cunningham's misdeeds and shows that more than one man's venality was involved. Indeed, there were things darkly wrong with Washington that invited Cunningham--and others--to steal, often putting American soldiers and Marines at risk during wartime.
If you want to understand the recent outcry over congressional corruption, then you need to understand how Cunningham and his contractor friends used the government to enrich themselves. This penetrating, witty, and gossipy analysis of how they stole and how they got caught makes for a fascinating read with a lesson for all Americans.
