Mitchell Wade
| Cunningham scandal |
| A U.S. political scandal in which government contracts were obtained with bribes to Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. |
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Mitchell J. Wade (born June 6, 1963) is an American defense contractor implicated in the events that led to the 2005 resignation of U.S. Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
Wade founded the defense contracting firm MZM Inc. (since renamed Athena Innovative Solutions Inc.), in 1993. On February 24, 2006, he pleaded guilty to paying then Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R. Calif.) more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for millions more in government contracts. Wade was one of four co-conspirators mentioned in Cunningham's plea agreement of November 28, 2005. In addition to Wade, the three other co-conspirators are: Brent R. Wilkes, founder of San Diego-based ADCS Inc.; New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis; and John T. Michael, Kontogiannis' nephew. [1]
Wade graduated from American University. He married Christiane D. Shipley on June 6, 1999. Shipley graduated from Wake Forest University in 1990. Wade has three children from a previous marriage, Matthew, Zachary and Morgan, and two with Shipley. The Wades used to live in Great Falls, Virginia.
Initially he worked as a bureaucrat at The Pentagon, then formed his own defense-contracting firm MZM, Inc., which was later embroiled in scandal. Wade named MZM after his children: Matthew, Zachary and Morgan.
Wade also served in the Naval Reserve.
In June 2005, it was revealed that Wade had bought Cunningham's house in Del Mar, California for $1,675,000. A month later, Wade placed it back on the market where it remained unsold for eight months until the price was reduced to $975,000. Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and shortly after the purchase, Wade began to receive tens of millions of dollars' worth of defense and intelligence contracts. [2]
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