1995-2000: Chairman, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Procurement
2001-2: Chairman, House Military Research & Development Subcommittee
2003-6: Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services

Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA-52) received $48,200 in campaign contributions from defense contractor Brent Wilkes, his lobbyists and business associates from 1993-2005, making him the 5th largest Congressional recipient of Wilkes-associated campaign money. (See bottom of page for breakdown of contributions by contributor.) The money served as the foundation for a relationship that helped Hunter fortify his position and power in Congress and helped Wilkes obtain federal contracts worth millions of dollars.

Duncan Hunter, Patron Saint of Document Conversion
In 1992, Brent Wilkes went to work as a political consultant for Audre Inc., a San Diego area firm that specialized in document conversion technology, as reported by the San Diego Union Tribune. Wilkes convinced his new bosses that it was necessary to obtain a congressional "sponsor" if the firm was to win any federal contracts for its technology. Almost immediately, Audre officials began donating to members of Congress, including at least $4,150 to Rep. Duncan Hunter in 1993-4.

Despite the General Accounting Office's 1994 conclusion that there was no need for the federal government to purchase document conversion technology (the Department of Defense already had its own system), Hunter quickly became a prime pusher of document conversion services in Congress, which directed $190 million in federal contracts to document conversion from 1993-2001. In 1995, he let Audre use his office to demonstrate its technology to military officials, which led to a $1.2 million trial contract between Audre and the military. But that wasn't enough for Wilkes, who was getting impatient with Audre's unwillingness to devote even more money to lobbying. Wilkes quit, and founded Automated Document Conversion Services (ADCS) in 1995.

While ADCS offered technology that was considerably cheaper than the Audre technology, Hunter maintained his allegiance to the company that had given him thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, continuing to push Audre over ADCS. It was at this point that Wilkes took his own advice and sought out a sponsor - Randy "Duke" Cunningham. , began lobbying for a document-conversion project for his company ADCS (Automated Document Conversion Services) in the Panama Canal Zone, which the U.S. was due to turn over to Panama in 1999. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune and campaign finance filings, Wilkes focused on Reps. Jerry Lewis, Brian Bilbray, Ken Calvert, and Duke Cunningham, all of California, in addition to Reps. Bob Livingston (LA) and Ben Gilman (NY).