Randall "Stoolie" Cunningham

Over the holidays, I wasn't as pleased at the wave of GOP indictments as my (precious few) liberal relatives. They were convinced thatthe rogue's gallery of Republican law- and opinion-makers would squeal like stuck pigs as soon as they were caught with their hands in the nation's cookie jar. I've always been more of the "cautiously optimistic" type. But in the case of disgraced California representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, it looks like they were as right as I hoped they were.

Washington's power players have always bragged about being well-wired, but for disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham, "wired" wasn't just a figure of speech. In a week when legislators are focused on the question of who else might be brought down by ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s cooperation with prosecutors as he seeks lenient sentencing over his two federal guilty pleas this week, sources tell TIME that in a separate investigation, ex-Rep. Cunningham wore a wire to help investigators gather evidence against others just before copping his own plea.

Sources familiar with the situation say Cunningham, a California Republican who pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to taking $2.4 million in bribes — including a yacht, a Rolls Royce and a 19th Century Louis-Philippe commode — from a defense contractor, wore a wire at some point during the short interval between the moment he began cooperating with the feds and the announcement of his guilty plea on Nov. 28.

The identity of those with whom the San Diego congressman met while wearing the wire remains unclear, and is the source of furious — and nervous — speculation by congressional Republicans. A Cunningham lawyer, K. Lee Blalack, refused to confirm or deny the story, and wouldn't say whether Cunningham will implicate any other members of Congress. The FBI is believed to be continuing its probe of defense contractors involved in the Cunningham case.

I won't ever be accused of underestimating the resolve of the neo-fascists, but here's hoping that all of them prove to be as unprincipled as Cunningham when it comes to ratting out their corrupt bedfellows.