HOOKERS AND POLITICIANS? PERISH THE THOUGHT

As astute reader kornzakrackin noted in an earlier posting:

[Y]ou need to start exploring the "Hookergate" scandal IMMEDIATELY!

And how right korny is.

The Duke Cunningham scandal -- he was a California congressman (and former ace fighter pilot) who took bribes from defense contractors -- is much more than just money. It's got hotel-room parties, hookers -- and a spook nicknamed "Nine Fingers."

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the feds are giving the looksee to records at two D.C. hotels rented by Brent Wilkes, one of the contractors who bribed Cunningham:

The suites -– first at the Watergate Hotel and then at the Westin Grand Hotel -– had several bedrooms where lawmakers and other guests could relax.

Federal investigators are trying to determine whether Cunningham and other legislators brought prostitutes to the hotels or prostitutes were provided for them there, according to a report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the Union-Tribune.

A source close to the bribery case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, told the Union-Tribune that Mitchell Wade, who pleaded guilty in February to bribing Cunningham, told federal prosecutors that he periodically helped arrange for a prostitute for the then-congressman. ...

Wilkes hosted parties for lawmakers and periodic poker games that included CIA officials as well as members of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees. Cunningham, who sat on both committees, was a frequent guest, according to some of the participants in the poker games.

People who were present at the games said one of the regular players was Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, who has been Wilkes' best friend since the two attended junior high school in Chula Vista in the late 1960s. In October, Foggo was named the CIA's executive director -– the agency's third-highest position.

Another player was a CIA agent known as "Nine Fingers," so named because he lost one of his digits while on assignment.

CIA honcho Porter Goss denies being at any of the liquor-poker parties. Foggo has stayed quiet. Frodo -- pardon us, "Nine Fingers" -- sounds like a guy we ought to know.