The California Fair Political Practices Commission released the following enforcement decision today:

Campaign Contribution Laundering (Default Decision)

In the Matter of Brent Wilkes, FPPC No. 03/791.  Staff: Senior Commission Counsel Melodee A. Mathay and Supervising Investigator Dennis Pellón.  Respondent Brent Wilkes, the owner and chief executive officer of a business storage company located in Poway, was the true source of two campaign contributions, totaling $500, made to the Ron Roberts for Mayor Committee in San Diego on May 31, 2000.  The contributions were made in the name of one of Respondent's employees and her husband, in violation of Government Code section 84301 and 84300, subdivision (c). (2 counts). $4,000 fine. 

Brent Wilkes is a defense contractor who ex-congressman Duke Cunninham admitted to taking bribes from.  He was also a Pioneer to the Bush presidential campaign.

On December 15, 2005 when I was the director of TheRestofUs.org, I wrote then Attorney General Bill Lockyer asking him to investigate Wilkes for possible laundering of campaign contributions through his employees.  I also wrote US Attorney General asking him to launch an investigation about Wilke's contributions to federal candidates and I called on President Bush to disclose the names of all the contributors that Wilkes supposedly bundled money from for the Bush campaign.  On January 30, 2006 I sent another letter to the US Attorny General pointing out illegal bundling in the Edwards presidential campaign and calling for a system of random audits.

To my knowledge, President Bush has not revealed the names of Wilke's donors.  Given that Wilkes has now been found guilty of laundering contributions through his employees, it is even more likely that he did so in making contributions to the Bush campaign.  In order to get to the bottom of the matter, it is critical that Bush now reveal the names of the donors that Wilke's claimed to have generated.   (See this piece I wrote about other troubling circumstances around Bush Pioneers for more details.)

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also accepted funds from Wilkes, which I called on him to return.   The Governor did ask Wilkes to step down from a position he had appointed him to on a race track commission.  To my knowledge, he has kept the money he received from Wilkes and his associates. 

Here is a list of politicians who accepted money from Wilkes.