Yesterday the North County Times reported that Duke Cunningham was not cooperating in the ongoing federal bribery investigation. Now, from information received from San Diego Union-Tribune reporters, TPM Muckraker provides an interesting twist: Cunningham may NEVER have cooperated:

There is no evidence that Cunningham has provided any significant information to the government beyond the proof the government already had – much of it from Wade – when Cunningham approached prosecutors about a plea agreement. People closely involved with the case privately admit as much. … When the prosecution argued for a stiff jail sentence for Cunningham, it said Cunningham had cost the country financially and had harmed it. But it never said how much Cunningham’s crimes had cost the country or how much damage had been done.

That’s because nobody knows.

Most of the money Cunningham directed to Wade and Wilkes involved classified programs. Many of these so-called “black” or secret programs were funded in response to the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. … The larceny might have involved many different contractors, projects and appropriations bills over many years. So, only Cunningham could know for sure.

Well this certainly explains why prosecutors wanted to give the Dukestir the full 10 year sentence that he was facing.