Is there a huge scandal behind the Duke Cunningham affair

I enjoy reading Cannonfire, Joseph Cannon's sometimes-tin-hatty blog, from time to time. Lately he's been doing some interesting work on the Wilkes defense contracting firm, which is being picked up by some Daily Kossacks as well as some in the mainstream media. It's a long, complicated story, but it's worth wading through, and this piece is a good place to start.

The gist: Wilkes "was a mechanism by which public funds earmarked for national defense were funneled to G.O.P. candidates and causes."