Connection to Lobbyists

Calvert went with businessman Thomas Kontogiannis and now-convicted Congressman Randy Cunningham on a December 2004 trip to Saudi Arabia. They were accompanied by Rancho Santa Fe businessman Ziyad Abduljawad, who paid for the trip. Kontogiannis is currently an unindicted co-conspirator in the Cunningham scandal. The activities of lobbying firm Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton and White (now dissolved) is currently under investigation by a federal grand jury. On May 23, 2006, the FBI obtained Calvert's financial records at the same time it pulled the records of Representative Jerry Lewis, who is at the center of the Copeland Lowery lobbying controversy. Calvert helped pass through at least 13 earmarks sought by Copeland Lowery in 2005, totalling over $91 million.