Top Gun CUNNINGHAM: I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office.

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/04/cst.02.html
WHITFIELD: The Democrat who delivered the address is Francine Busby,
the party's candidate to replace former Republican Congressman, Randy
"Duke" Cunningham of California.

Cunningham is now serving a federal prison term for bribery. The San
Diego Republican was sentenced yesterday to eight years and four
months for taking bribes from at least three defense contractors.

CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, takes a closer look at
Cunningham's career and his fall from power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randy Cunningham and high
risk have been partners a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His name is Randy "Duke" Cunningham, and he is a
legend of air power.

KING: The Vietnam ace whose daring exploits were an inspiration for
Maverick in Hollywood's "Top Gun."

VAL KILMER, ACTOR: I don't like you because you're dangerous.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: That's right, Iceman. I am dangerous.

KING: And from famous war hero, Cunningham parachuted into a seemingly
less risky business: politics.

RANDY "DUKE" CUNNINGHAM (R), FORMER CALIFORNIA REPRESENTATIVE: Duke
Cunningham, running for U.S. Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Duke Cunningham will be a congressman we can be
proud of.

KING: Now 16 years after that first campaign, San Diego Congressman
Duke Cunningham's exploits are once again the stuff of Hollywood.

CUNNINGHAM: I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my
office.

KING: His corruption is stunning in its scope and in its sheer
audacity: $2.4 million in bribes, at least. Private jets for resort
getaways. A California mansion. A Rolls Royce. A lifestyle well beyond
his means and a thirst for more.

That appetite, longtime friends like Charles Nesby say, perhaps were
some of the traits that made Duke Cunningham a successful ace.
Cockiness.

CAPT. CHARLES NESBY, CUNNINGHAM FRIEND: That's the nature of the beast
in all of us that are fighter pilots. You're naturally aggressive.

KING: Naked avarice is what prosecutors call it.

And look at this. Cunningham actually scribbled this bribe menu on his
congressional notepad. Want a $16 million contract? The cost is a
boat, "BT" for short, worth $140,000. Add in another $50,000 for each
additional million dollars in contracts.

NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: What Cunningham did is
breathtaking.

KING: Norman Ornstein has been studying Congress for 30 years and says
there has been nothing like this before.

ORNSTEIN: This is somebody who set out to live a lavish lifestyle by
making sure he could shake down contractors, lobbyists and interest
groups.

KING: Thousands of dollars in meals, at the Capital Grille and other
pricey Washington restaurants, Cunningham's tab picked up by defense
contractors.

Private jets, again, paid for by contractors, to whisk the congressman
around the country.

Then trendy Delano Hotel on Miami's South Beach was one destination
two years ago: $1,254 for the room, $848 for Cunningham's meals at the
hotel. Nearly $13,000 for the chartered jet.

Cunningham grew to expect luxury, the prosecution memo says. His
co-conspirators eagerly plied him with it.

He was, after all, on the House Appropriations Committee, a leading
voice on its defense subcommittee, able to enter multimillion dollar
favors into the Pentagon and other budgets.

His Navy days gave him standing on military matters, and stories via
the big screen.

CUNNINGHAM: I met my wife by singing, "You Lost That Loving Feeling"
to her at the Miramar officer's club.

KING (on camera): Perhaps they should have raised questions, some
friends say, when a congressman with a $165,000 a year salary bought a
penthouse condominium here just outside Washington, in addition to the
pricey home he owned in southern California.

(voice-over) The condo came courtesy of a defense contractors'
$200,000 down payment. Inside, tens of thousands of dollars worth of
antiques the congressman demanded in exchange for favors, all now in a
warehouse awaiting government auction.

This is the boat from the bribe menu, The Duke-Stir, a flashy exhibit
of Cunningham's lifestyle. Real estate records like these, the more
mundane evidence that would begin his fall from grace.

November, 2003, Cunningham sold his home in Del Mar to a defense
contractor for nearly $1.7 million. The contractor lost $700,000 when
he resold it. That caught the eye of a Copley News Service reporter,
and then that caught the eye of the feds. What they found is eye
popping.

NESBY: It's the power, and then some people handle the power
correctly. Other people, the power can be misused. Duke lost his moral
compass.

KING: Nesby is one of 40 Cunningham friends and family members who
wrote the judge, appealing for leniency. In his letter, Nesby recalled
the white naval officer who took a risk, standing up for a young black
pilot.

NESBY: It was not popular for him to do that, but I appreciated it.
What he did, he leveled the playing field and allowed me to compete
and gave me what I deserved. And I'll always love him for that.

KING: In his note to the judge, Cunningham wrote, "It all started very
slowly and innocently," that he's sorry, worried about dying in
prison. But "I will accept your sentence without complaint."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Randy "Duke" Cunningham will be remembered as an
educator, a legislator, but most of all, as a legend of air power.

KING: A career that is the stuff of Hollywood. Then...

CUNNINGHAM: In my life I have had great joy and great sorrow. And now
I have great shame.

KING: ... and now.

John king, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)