SAN DIEGO - A trial about power, bribery and a dirty politician took another tawdry turn Wednesday, as a hooker from Hawaii testified that Poway businessman Brent Wilkes argued with former North County Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham over who would get the prettier of two prostitutes.

Wilkes won.

Soon after that, his government contracts dried up.

The men's dispute over the two prostitutes - while chomping on cigars and soaking with the naked women in a private Jacuzzi in a Hawaiian resort - happened at a crucial time.

One of Wilkes' competitors was out-bribing Wilkes to line Cunningham's pockets in 2003, according to testimony Wednesday, so Wilkes raised the stakes. Wilkes and the congressman flew to Hawaii, where Wilkes' nephew lined up two $300-an-hour hookers, the nephew told the jury Wednesday.

But Wilkes got the prettier one. And Cunningham wasn't happy.

"There was a bit of a disagreement between the two of them," one of the prostitutes, Tammy McFadden, testified Wednesday.

McFadden said she ended up with Wilkes that August night in 2003.

"Did the other client (Cunningham) feel he got the short end of the straw?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Halpern asked.

"Yes," McFadden replied. "And he was vocal about it."

The two escorts were the last witnesses for the prosecution in their case against Wilkes, who is accused of plying Cunningham with $700,000 in cash and gifts in exchange for more than $80 million in government contracts between 1997 and 2004.

Wilkes, a 53-year-old San Diego County native, has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges, including bribery, fraud, money laundering and committing unlawful monetary transactions. He faces up to 20 years if convicted.

Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, contends that the expensive dinners and private jet trips to which Wilkes treated Cunningham are simply the way Washington works.

The government rested its case late Wednesday - but without calling Cunningham to the stand. Geragos declined to say whether he plans to call the now-jailed former politician to testify for the defense, which begins its case this morning.

The congressman became the center of a tug of war between Wilkes and Mitchell Wade, according to testimony.

Mitchell Wade once worked as a consultant for Wilkes.

'Upping the ante'

But in 2001, Wade - while still working for Wilkes - went behind Wilkes' back. He started his own defense contracting firm, and began bribing Cunningham to win the same types of defense contracts Wilkes' company handled, according to testimony thus far in the seven-day trial.

By 2003, Wade was winning the game, slipping bigger bribes to the North County politician, Wilkes' nephew, Joel Combs, told the jury Wednesday.

Seeing contracts going to Wade made Wilkes furious, Combs testified.

"Brent said Mitchell was 'upping the ante,' " said Combs, who worked for his uncle for about a decade - and whom he says helped grease Cunningham on Wilkes' behalf.

Telling his tale under a grant of immunity, Combs was a star witness for the government. He spent most of Wednesday on the stand.

Combs said his uncle had treated Cunningham to concerts, luxury box seats for the Super Bowl, resort getaways and golf vacations. The fine meals he bought for the politician over the course of four years totaled more than $150,000, Combs said.

And in return, Cunningham earmarked taxpayer funds for contracts to steer to Wilkes' Poway-based ADCS, which handled document scanning for the government.

The politician was also "our problem-solver," Combs said. Cunningham bullied government employees who questioned Wilkes' work or invoices, according to previous testimony.

With Wade in the picture, Wilkes' business soured.

When Wilkes figured out that Wade had bought expensive antique furniture for the congressman, Wilkes raised the stakes, Combs said.

Wilkes and Combs took Cunningham for a lavish vacation at a Hawaiian resort, Combs said. They stayed in a $6,000-a-night villa with a private pool and Jacuzzi on the lanai.

They went diving in warm waters among coral reefs. They played poker. They partied with hookers. All of it paid for by Wilkes, Combs said.

But a few months later, the stakes got higher, it appears. Wade bought the congressman's Del Mar home - for $700,000 more than it was worth.

Cunningham steered government contracts worth millions in taxpayer funds to Wade. Wilkes' company was shut out.

Cunningham is behind bars now, serving eight years and four months for admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government contracts.

Wade, too, has pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham, although he has not been sentenced. Wilkes is Wade's one-time boss, and he introduced Wade to Cunningham.

Wade testified last week that he learned the bribery game from Wilkes.

Combs admitted he lied to the FBI when federal agents raided his Washington D.C.-area office. Halpern asked Combs whom he thought his lies would protect.

"Brent. And myself," Combs answered with a hard frown, his voice choking as he fought tears.

He and his uncle did not look toward each other during his nearly daylong testimony.

While cross-examining Combs, Geragos depicted Combs as a ne'er-do-well nephew, a screw-up who relied on his uncle for a job.

Prostitutes in the tub

And at the end of the day, after Combs left the stand, the decorum of the federal courtroom gave way a bit to nervous laughter as McFadden and the other prostitute, Donna Rozetta, testified about their encounters with Wilkes and Cunningham.

Rozetta, wearing low-rise jeans, a T-shirt and a cropped black sweatshirt, told the jury that she and McFadden were driven to the hotel and brought to the suite to meet their two clients.

"They asked us if we wanted to get naked and get into the Jacuzzi," Rozetta said.

"What did you do," prosecutor Halpern asked.

"We got naked and got in the Jacuzzi," Rozetta replied.

She said she ended up with the older of the two men, one with "heavy jowls and a puffy face," and that he fed her grapes as they soaked in the hot tub.

She identified Cunningham in a photo lineup shown to the jury. Cunningham's was the second of six pictures.

"I had sex with No. 2," Rozetta said.

McFadden, with long wavy blond hair and dressed in a black pants suit, described Cunningham as "the boisterous one" and "overbearing."

McFadden said she returned to the suite the next night, but this time she came with a different woman.

- Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.