DUKE OF THE DOCK Cunningham, the Duke-Stir (inset)

A taste for yachts contributed to disgraced congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham's downfall, but also, perhaps, to a bit of moral redemption.

According to a soon-to-be-published book, before Cunningham became embroiled in scandal over his rampant bribe-taking, the California Republican privately made amends to Barney Frank, the gay Massachusetts Democrat, for his antigay slurs.

"Look, I want to apologize," Cunningham told Frank, according to Feasting on the Spoils, by investigative reporter Seth Hettena. "I may have said things to you in the past that were harsh. I shouldn't have said those, and I'm not going to say those again." (Among other things, Cunningham had baited Frank into a fight by referring, in a congressional session, to "homos in the military.")

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