The San Diego Union-Tribune delves into the details of the FBI’s recently revealed investigation of the powerful Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA):

But a federal government source told The San Diego Union-Tribune that investigators were probing Lewis’ dealings with lobbyist and former Republican Rep. Bill Lowery of San Diego. The source said the investigation was a spin-off from the corruption probe of now-imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

Lewis adamantly denies that he was a close friend of Cunningham’s and stated that Cunningham “betrayed his oath of office, his constituents, and his fellow members of Congress.” He does not of course mention this:

According to government and defense industry sources, Lewis and Cunningham worked together to help Poway military contractor Brent Wilkes as he pursued contracts on Capitol Hill. Cunningham admitted taking bribes from Wilkes, who has been identified as co-conspirator No. 1 in Cunningham’s plea agreement.

On April 15, 1999, three months after Lewis was named chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, he received $17,000 in campaign contributions from Wilkes and his associates. At the time, Wilkes was vying for a project to digitize military documents in the Panama Canal Zone, which the United States was about to return to Panama. … On July 6, 1999, Wilkes wrote to Cunningham saying “We need $10 m(illion) more immediately . . . This is very important and if you cannot resolve this others will be calling also.”

Wilkes’ memo – contained in federal documents accompanying Cunningham’s guilty plea – then named two people whose names were blacked out by the prosecutors.

According to military and defense industry sources, Lewis and Cunningham got the money for Wilkes, founder of ADCS Inc., by using their clout to threaten the funding of the Pentagon’s F-22 fighter jet.

Laura Rozen at War and Piece has a picture up of the blacked out document where one of the blacked out names clearly begins with the letter “J”.