A new name in the Cunningham, Wade scandal

Katherine Harris,

Yes, that Katherin Harris , who has announced a run for the Florida Senate seat of Bill Nelson.

She is also a big winner in the Mitchell Wade give away program

Ashdown echoed the comments of former MZM employees in saying Wade strategically targeted MZM's donations.

"A lot of people will throw a lot of money at a lot of different people," Ashdown said. Wade's "strategy was, `I need to make friends with a few very influential lawmakers and really, really schmooze and coddle them and that's how I'm going to make my money.' And that's what he did.

"The first person is Cunningham, a senior guy on the (defense appropriations) committee, and he helps them get business. Then they go to another guy on the (defense appropriations) committee, Goode, who's more junior but has the benefit of getting a facility in his district. And then they go to Katherine Harris, who isn't on the committee but needs lots of money for her Senate race and would be bringing business and new jobs to her area," Ashdown said.

So how much did she get?

Individuals also may contribute separately. PACs are not allowed to give more than $5,000 to any one candidate per election. When a primary and general election are involved, PACs may give $5,000 per candidate in each, for a total of $10,000 per election cycle. Individuals may give up to $4,000 per election cycle.

In addition to the MZM PAC, MZM officials also made contributions to the House members' campaigns. Wade gave Cunningham $6,000 between 2000 and 2004.

MZM officials and their family members gave Harris, who ran for Congress in 2002, a total of $44,000 during 2003 and 2004.

Well, it's not a million dollars, but it isn't a bad downpayment.