SAN DIEGO — A prostitute whom prosecutors say a defense contractor provided to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham testified Wednesday that the congressman fed her grapes as she sat naked in a hot tub before they headed to a bedroom at a Hawaiian resort.
The woman spoke at the trial of Brent Wilkes, who is accused bribing Cunningham with $700,000 in cash and perks in exchange for help securing about $90 million in government contracts. Wilkes has denied the charges.
Donna Rosetta said she was chauffeured to a private villa at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in Kamelua, Hawaii, in August 2003 by an escort service she worked for. Cunningham and Wilkes invited her and a second woman to undress and slide into a hot tub before Cunningham invited her upstairs, Rosetta said.
"They were smoking cigars and talking about some meeting they had earlier," Rosetta said.
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She and Cunningham went to a bedroom, and he tipped her $50 to $80, she said.
The other woman, Tammy McFadden, testified that Wilkes and Cunningham appeared to be arguing about who would go upstairs with which woman.
"The one I ended up with was the one who was running the show," said McFadden, referring to Wilkes. She described Cunningham as "the boisterous one" and said he was overbearing.
Earlier in the day, Wilkes' nephew and employee Joel Combs testified that he found the escort service in the phone book on a $20,000 trip to Hawaii that also included catered meals and a diving trip captured on a video that was played for jurors.
Combs told jurors his uncle paid thousands of dollars for golf trips, private jet flights, Super Bowl box seats and boat navigation systems for Cunningham. In return, Combs testified, Wilkes had virtually unlimited access to the lawmaker.
"He could get Duke on the phone anywhere, any time," Combs told Phillip Halpern, an assistant U.S. attorney. "He treated him really well."
Combs, the second person Wilkes hired after launching his own defense contracting company in 1995, was called as a government witness and testified under a grant of immunity on the seventh day of Wilkes' federal trial.
Cunningham, a San Diego Republican who held seats on the powerful House intelligence and defense appropriations committees, was elected to eight terms before resigning in 2005. He pleaded guilty that year to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from Wilkes and others and is serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Combs testified Wednesday that his uncle communicated with other prominent lawmakers, including California Republicans Jerry Lewis and Duncan Hunter, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, Republican Whip Roy Blunt, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat.
But the relationship with Cunningham was at the center of Wilkes' success in Washington, and Combs said his uncle worked to keep the lawmaker happy — efforts that included staking his nephew money to purposely lose in poker games with the lawmaker.
Combs recalled dinners at Washington's fancy Capital Grille restaurant, shooting lessons, and trips to Florida, Las Vegas and Idaho that Wilkes provided for the congressman from 1998 until 2002. During that period, Cunningham made calls to Pentagon officials on Wilkes' behalf and helped secure about $90 million in federal contracts for Wilkes' company.
Wilkes also paid to fly Cunningham and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert from a golf outing in Palm Springs to San Diego for a reception and then back to Washington on private jets, Combs testified.
Combs told prosecutors he didn't recall Cunningham ever volunteering to cover his share of the expenses. But he said on cross-examination by defense attorney Mark Geragos that he would not have been responsible for processing any reimbursements and did not know whether company accountants ever billed the congressman or his campaigns.
Cunningham occasionally paid for wine at dinner with Wilkes, Combs said.
Wilkes avoided looking at his nephew as he spent hours examining documents at the defense table in reading glasses.
Wilkes, 53, has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and money laundering. His lawyer argued in court that Wilkes' transactions with the lawmaker were legitimate.
If convicted, Wilkes could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
