List of American
federal politicians convicted of crimes
[List covers up to the
year 2009]
This list consists of American
politicians convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while
holding office in the federal government. It includes politicians who
were convicted or pleaded guilty in a court of law; and does not
include politicians involved in unprosecuted scandals (which may or
may not have been illegal in nature), or politicians who have only
been arrested or indicted. The list also does not include crimes
which occur outside the politician’s tenure unless they
specifically stem from acts while they were in office.
Although the convicted politicians are
arranged by presidential terms starting with the most recent, many of
the crimes have little or no connection to who is President.
2009– (Obama (D) presidency)
Judicial Branch
Samuel B. Kent (R) The Federal
District Judge of Galveston, Texas was sentenced on May 11, 2009, to
33 months in prison for having lied about sexually harassing two
female employees. He had been appointed to office by George H. W.
Bush in 1990. (2009) [1][2]
Thomas Porteous (D) The Federal
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana was impeached, convicted and removed from office in
December 8 2010 on charges of bribery and lying to Congress. He had
been appointed to office by Bill Clinton in 1994. (2010)[3]
Legislative Branch
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) pleaded
guilty on February 20, 2013 to one count of wire and mail fraud in
connection with his misuse of $750,000 of campaign funds. Jackson,
Jr. agreed to plead guilty to charges of fraud, conspiracy, making
false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, and criminal forfeiture.
Jackson, Jr. used about $750,000 in campaign money for personal
expenses that included a Michael Jackson fedora and cashmere capes.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2013.[4]
2001–2009 (George W. Bush (R)
presidency)
Executive branch
Courtney Stadd, Chief of Staff to
NASA, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for conspiracy. (2012)[5]
Scott Bloch was appointed by George
W. Bush to head the United States Office of Special Counsel and was
sentenced to one month in prison for Contempt of Congress and
sentenced to one year of un-supervised probation. Bloch had hired
Geeks on Call to scrub his computer of files before they could be
examined by Congress. (2010)[6]
Lewis Libby (R) Chief of Staff to
Vice President Dick Cheney (R). 'Scooter' was convicted of perjury
and obstruction of justice in the Plame Affair on March 6, 2007 and
was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. His sentence
was commuted by George W. Bush (R) on July 1, 2007. The felony
remains on Libby's record though the jail time and fine were
commuted.[7]
Lester Crawford (R) Commissioner of
the Food and Drug Administration, resigned after 2 months. Pleaded
guilty to conflict of interest and received 3 years suspended
sentence and fined $90,000. (2006) [8]
Claude Allen (R) Advisor to
President Bush on Domestic Policy, Allen was arrested for a series of
felony thefts in retail stores such as Target. (2006) He was
convicted on one count and resigned soon after.[9]
Darleen Druyun (D) Principal Deputy
Undersecretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Druyun pleaded
guilty to inflating the price of the contract to favor her future
employer and to passing information on the competing Airbus A330 MRTT
bid (from EADS). In October 2004, she was sentenced to nine months in
jail for corruption, fined $5,000, given three years of supervised
release and 150 hours of community service. She began her prison term
on January 5, 2005.[10]
Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involves
the efforts of Abramoff to influence Congress concerning U.S.
immigration and minimum wage laws. See Legislative branch
convictions. Convictions within the Bush administration include:
David Safavian GSA (General
Services Administration) Chief of Staff,[11] found guilty of blocking
justice and lying, [12] and sentenced to 18 months[13]
Roger Stillwell Staff in the
Department of the Interior under George W. Bush. Pleaded guilty and
received two years suspended sentence. [12]
Susan B. Ralston Special
Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to Karl Rove, resigned
October 6, 2006 after it became known that she accepted gifts and
passed information to her former boss Jack Abramoff.[14]
J. Steven Griles Deputy
Secretary of the Interior pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice
and was sentenced to 10 months.[15]
Italia Federici staff to the
Secretary of Interior, and President of the Council of Republicans
for Environmental Advocacy, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and
obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to four years
probation.[16][17][18]
Jared Carpenter Vice-President
of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, was
discovered during the Abramoff investigation and pleaded guilty to
income tax evasion. He got 45 days, plus 4 years probation.[19]
Mark Zachares staff in the
Department of Labor, bribed by Abramoff, guilty of conspiracy to
defraud. [20]
Robert E. Coughlin Deputy Chief
of Staff, Criminal Division of the Justice Department pleaded guilty
to conflict of interest after accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff.
(2008) [17]
Legislative branch
Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involves
the efforts of Abramoff to influence Congressional action concerning
U.S. immigration and minimum wage laws. See Executive branch
convictions. Congressmen convicted in the Abramoff scandal include:
Tom DeLay (R-TX) The House
Majority Leader was reprimanded twice by the House Ethics Committee
and DeLay resigned 9 June 2006.[21] Delay was found to have illegally
channeled funds from Americans for a Republican Majority to
Republican state legislator campaigns. He was convicted of two counts
of money laundering and conspiracy in 2010 and sentenced to three
years.[22][23][24]
Jim McDermott (D-WA) In
December 2004, the House Ethics Committee investigated McDermott over
the leaking of an illegally recorded telephone conversation during a
1997 committee investigation. On March 31, 2008, Chief Judge Thomas
Hogan ordered McDermott to pay John Boehner (R-OH) $1.05 million in
attorney's fees, costs and interest as well as $60,000 in fines.[25]
Michael Scanlon (R) former
staff to Tom DeLay: working for Abramoff, pleaded guilty to bribery.
Tony Rudy (R) former staff to
Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
James W. Ellis (R) executive
director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a
Republican Majority (ARMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money
laundering. [26]
John Colyandro (R) executive
director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a
Republican Majority (TRMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money
laundering [26]
Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty
to conspiracy and making false statements as a result of his
receiving trips from Abramoff in exchange for legislative favors. Ney
received 30 months in prison.[27]
Neil Volz former staff to
Robert Ney, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in 2006 charges
stemming from his work for Bob Ney. In 2007 he was sentenced to two
years probation, 100 hours community service, and a fine of
$2,000.[28]
William Heaton,former chief of
staff for Bob Ney (R), pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge
involving a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to
sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping
Abramoff's clients.[29]
John Albaugh former chief of
staff to Ernest Istook (R-OK) pleaded guilty to accepting bribes
connected to the Federal Highway Bill. Istook was not charged. (2008)
[30][31]
James Hirni, former staff to
Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) was charged with wire fraud for giving a
staffer, Don Young (R) of Alaska, a bribe in exchange for amendments
to the Federal Highway Bill. (2008) [32]
Kevin A. Ring former staff to
John Doolittle (R-CA) was convicted of five charges of corruption.
Doolittle was not charged. [33][34]
Duke Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded
guilty on November 28, 2005 to charges of conspiracy to commit
bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion in what came to be
called the Cunningham scandal. Sentenced to over eight years in
prison.[35]
William J. Jefferson (D-LA) in
August 2005 the FBI seized $90,000 in cash from Jefferson's home
freezer. He was re-elected anyway, but lost in 2008. He was convicted
of 11 counts of bribery and sentenced to 13 years in prison on
November 13, 2009.[36] Jefferson's Chief of Staff Brett Pfeffer, was
sentenced to 84 months for bribery. (2006) [37]
Bill Janklow (R-SD) convicted of
second-degree manslaughter for running a stop sign and killing a
motorcyclist. Resigned from the House and given 100 days in the
county jail and three years probation. (2003)[38]
Jim Traficant (D-OH) found guilty
on 10 felony counts of financial corruption, he was sentenced to 8
years in prison and expelled from the House (2002) [39]
Vito Fossella (R-NY) US Congressman
convicted of drunken driving in 2008, later appealed but then pleaded
guilty in 2009 to same charge.[40]
Larry Craig Senator (R-ID) –
Married Senator and critic of Clinton's affair, pleaded guilty to
disorderly conduct in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June, after
having been arrested on a charge of homosexual lewd conduct.(2007)
[41]
Frank Ballance (D-NC) admitted to a
federal charge of money laundering and mail fraud in October 2005 and
sentenced to 4 years in prison. [42]
1993–2001 (Clinton (D) presidency)
Executive branch
Wade Sanders (D), Deputy Assistant
United States Secretary of the Navy, for Reserve Affairs, was
sentenced to 37 months in prison on one charge of possession of child
pornography. (2009)[18][43][44]
Ronald H. Blackley, Secretary of
Agriculture Mike Espy's Chief of Staff, was sentenced to 27 months
for perjury. Espy was found innocent on all counts.(1998)[45]
Legislative branch
Mel Reynolds (D-IL) was convicted
of 12 counts of bank fraud. See also [List of federal political sex
scandals in the United States](1999) [46]
Walter R. Tucker III (D-CA) was
sentenced to 27 months in prison in 1996 for extortion and tax
evasion. (1995)
Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI) found
to have committed 11 violations of law and house rules stemming from
use of campaign funds for personal use. (1997) [47]
Wes Cooley (R-OR), Cooley was
convicted of having lied on the 1994 voter information pamphlet about
his service in the Army. He was fined and sentenced to two years
probation (1997)[48]
Austin Murphy (D-PA) convicted of
one count of voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members
of a nursing home. (1999) [49]
House banking scandal [50] The
House of Representatives Bank found that 450 members had overdrawn
their checking accounts, but not been penalized. Six were convicted
of charges, most only tangentially related to the House Bank itself.
Twenty two more of the most prolific over-drafters were singled out
by the House Ethics Committee. (1992)
Buz Lukens (R-Ohio) convicted of
bribery and conspiracy.[51]
Carl C. Perkins (D-Kentucky)
pleaded guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial
institutions (including the House Bank).[52]
Carroll Hubbard (D-Kentucky)
convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to
succeed him in congress.[53]
Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) pleaded
guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the
House Bank.[54]
Walter Fauntroy (D-District of
Columbia) convicted of filing false disclosure forms in order to hide
unauthorized income.[55]
Congressional Post Office scandal
(1991–1995) A conspiracy to embezzle House Post Office money
through stamps and postal vouchers to congressmen.[56]
Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL)
Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in
1995.[57]
Joe Kolter (D-Pennsylvania)
Convicted of one count of conspiracy [58] and sentenced to 6 months
in prison.[59]
Jay Kim (R-CA) accepted $250,000 in
illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months
house arrest (1992) [60]
1989–1993 (George H. W. Bush (R)
presidency)
Judicial Branch
Robert Frederick Collins (D) Judge
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana. Convicted of Bribery and sentence to 6 years and 10
months.[61]
Walter Nixon (D) US Judge
(Mississippi) (appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1968) Was impeached by
the House and convicted by the Senate for perjury on November 3,
(1989) [62]
Executive branch
Alberto Coll, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict.
Sentenced to one-year probation and fined him $5000 for lying about a
visit to Cuba. (2005)[63]
Catalina Vasquez Villalpando, (R)
Treasurer of the United States. Pleaded guilty to obstruction of
justice and tax evasion. (1992)[64]
Legislative branch
Nicholas Mavroules
(D-Massachusetts) convicted of extortion, accepting illegal gifts and
failing to report them on congressional disclosure and income tax
forms. Mavroules pleaded guilty to fifteen counts in April 1993 and
was sentenced to a fifteen-month prison term. (1993) [65][66][67]
Albert Bustamante (D-Texas)
convicted of accepting bribes. (1993) [68]
David Durenberger Senator
(R-Minnesota) denounced by Senate for unethical financial
transactions and then disbarred (1990). He pleaded guilty to misuse
of public funds and given one year probation (1995) [69]
1981–1989 (Reagan (R) presidency)
Executive branch
See also: Reagan administration
scandals
Housing and Urban Development
Scandal A controversy concerning bribery by selected contractors for
low income housing projects.[70]
James G. Watt (R) United States
Secretary of the Interior, 1981–1983, charged with 25 counts of
perjury and obstruction of justice. Sentenced to five years
probation, fined $5,000 and 500 hours of community service[71]
Deborah Gore Dean, (R) Executive
Assistant to (Samuel Pierce, Secretary of HUD 1981–1987, and not
charged). Dean was convicted of 12 counts of perjury, conspiracy,
bribery. Sentenced to 21 months in prison (1987).[72]
Phillip D. Winn (R) Assistant
Secretary of HUD, 1981–1982, pleaded guilty to bribery in 1994.[72]
Thomas Demery, (R) Assistant
Secretary of HUD, pleaded guilty to bribery and obstruction.[72]
Joseph A. Strauss, (R) Special
Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, convicted for accepting payments
to favor Puerto Rican land developers in receiving HUD funding.[73]
Wedtech scandal Wedtech Corporation
convicted of bribery for Defense Department contracts.[74]
Mario Biaggi (D-New York) sentenced
to 2½ years. (1987)[75]
Robert Garcia (D-New York)
sentenced to 2½ years.[76]
Iran-Contra Affair (1985–1986); A
secret sale of arms to Iran, to secure the release of hostages and
allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras, in
violation of the Boland Amendment.[77]
Caspar Weinberger (R) United States
Secretary of Defense, was indicted on two counts of perjury and one
count of obstruction of justice on June 16, 1992. [13]
. Weinberger received a pardon
before his trial from George H. W. Bush on December 24, 1992.[78]
Robert C. McFarlane (R) National
Security Adviser, convicted of withholding evidence. Given 2 years
probation. Later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush[79]
John Poindexter (R) National
Security Advisor, was convicted on April 7, 1990 for his role in the
Iran-Contra Affair. The convictions were reversed in 1991 on appeal
.[80]
Oliver North (R) Member of the
National Security Council, was fired by President Reagan on the same
day Poindexter resigned.[81][82] North was found guilty of perjury
and conspiracy, but the charges were overturned on appeal.
Elliott Abrams (R) Assistant
Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, convicted of
withholding evidence. Given 2 years probation. Later pardoned by
President George H. W. Bush.[83]
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm
.
Michael Deaver (R) White House
Deputy Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan 1981–85, pleaded guilty to
perjury related to lobbying activities and was sentenced to 3 years
probation and fined $100,000 [84]
Sewergate A scandal in which funds
from the EPA were selectively used for projects which would aid
politicians friendly to the Reagan administration.
Rita Lavelle (R), assistant EPA
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency misused
‘superfund' monies and was convicted of perjury. She served six
months in prison, was fined $10,000 and given five years probation.
(1984) [85]
Legislative branch
David Durenberger Senator
(R-Minnesota), denounced by the Senate for unethical financial
transactions (1990) and then disbarred as an attorney.[86] In 1995 he
pleaded guilty to 5 misdemeanor counts of misuse of public funds and
was given one years probation.[87]
Donald E. "Buz" Lukens
(R-Ohio), Convicted of two counts of bribery and conspiracy. (1996)
[88] See also Sex scandals.
Abscam FBI sting involving fake
'Arabs' trying to bribe 31 congressmen.(1980) [89] The following
Congressmen were convicted:
Harrison A. Williams Senator (D-New
Jersey) Convicted on 9 counts of bribery and conspiracy. Sentenced to
3 years in prison.[90]
John Jenrette Representative
(D-South Carolina) sentenced to two years in prison for bribery and
conspiracy.[91]
Richard Kelly (R-Florida) Accepted
$25K and then claimed he was conducting his own investigation into
corruption. Served 13 months.[92]
Raymond Lederer (D-Pennsylvania) "I
can give you me" he said after accepting $50K. Sentenced to 3
years.[93]
Michael Myers (D-Pennsylvania)
Accepted $50K saying, "...money talks and bullshit walks."
Sentenced to 3 years and was expelled from the House.[94]
Frank Thompson (D-New Jersey)
Sentenced to 3 years.[95]
John M. Murphy (D-New York) Served
20 months of a 3-year sentence.[96]
Mario Biaggi (D-New York),
Convicted of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gratuities
he was sentenced to 2½ years in prison and fined $500K for his role
in the Wedtech scandal, see above. Just before expulsion from the
House, he resigned. The next year he was convicted of another 15
counts of obstruction and bribery. (1988) [97]
Pat Swindall (R-Georgia) convicted
of 6 counts of perjury. (1989) [98][99]
George V. Hansen (R-Idaho) censured
for failing to file out disclosure forms. Spent 15 months in
prison.[100]
Frederick W. Richmond (D-New
York),Convicted of tax evasion and possession of marijuana. Served 9
months (1982) [101]
Dan Flood (D-Pennsylvania) censured
for bribery. After a trial ended in a deadlocked jury, pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to a year's probation.[102][103]
Joshua Eilberg (D-Pennsylvania)
pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges. In addition, he
convinced president Carter to fire the U.S. Attorney investigating
his case.[104]
Judicial branch scandals
Alcee Hastings (D-Florida), Federal
District court judge impeached by the House and convicted by the
Senate of soliciting a bribe (1989).[105] Subsequently elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives (1992)
Harry Claiborne (D-Nebraska),
Federal District court Judge impeached by the House and convicted by
the Senate on two counts of tax evasion. He served over one year in
prison.[106]
1977–1981 (Carter (D) presidency)
Legislative branch
Fred Richmond (D-New York) –
Convicted of tax fraud and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months
in prsion. Charges of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy were
dropped after he submitted to counseling. (1978) [107]
Charles Diggs (D-Michigan),
convicted on 29 charges of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms
which formed a kickback scheme with his staff. Sentenced to 3 years
(1978) [108]
Michael Myers (D-Pennsylvania)
Received suspended six-month jail term after pleading no contest to
disorderly conduct charged stemming from an incident at a Virginia
bar in which he allegedly attacked a hotel security guard and a
cashier.[109]
Frank M. Clark (D-Pennsylvania)
pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion on June 12, 1979 and
sentenced to two years in prison.[110]
Koreagate scandal involving alleged
bribery of more than 30 members of Congress by the South Korean
government represented by Tongsun Park.
Richard T. Hanna (D-California) was
convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison.[111]
Richard Tonry (D-Louisiana) pleaded
guilty to receiving illegal campaign contributions.[112]
1974–1977 (Ford (R) presidency)
Legislative branch
James F. Hastings (R-New York),
convicted of kickbacks and mail fraud, he also took money from his
employees for personal use. Served 14 months at Allenwood
penitentiary. (1976) [113]
John V. Dowdy (D-Texas), Allegedly
tried to stop a federal invesitgation of a construction firm. He
served 6 months in prison for perjury. (1973) [114][115]
Bertram Podell (D-New York),
pleaded guilty to conspiracy and conflict of interest. He was fined
$5,000 and served four months in prison. (1974)[116]
Frank Brasco (D-New York) Sentenced
to three months in jail and fined $10,000 for conspiracy to accept
bribes from a reputed Mafia figure who sought truck leasing contracts
from the Post Office and loans to buy trucks.[104]
Richard T. Hanna (D-CA), convicted
in an influence-buying scandal. (1974)[117]
1969–1974 (Nixon (R) presidency)
Executive branch
Watergate (1972–1973) Republican
'bugging' of the Democratic Party National Headquarters at the
Watergate Hotel led to a burglary which was discovered. The cover up
of the affair by President Richard Nixon (R) and his staff resulted
in 69 government officials being charged and 48 pleading guilty,
including 7 for actual burglary. Eventually, Nixon resigned his
position.[118]
John N. Mitchell (R) former
Attorney General, convicted of perjury.[119]
Frederick C. LaRue (R) Advisor to
John Mitchell, convicted of obstruction of justice.[120]
Richard Kleindienst (R) Attorney
General, found guilty of "refusing to answer questions"
given one month in jail.[121]
H. R. Haldeman (R) Chief of Staff
for Nixon, convicted of perjury [122]
John Ehrlichman (R) Counsel to
Nixon, convicted of perjury.[123]
Egil Krogh (R) Aide to John
Ehrlichman, sentenced to 6 months.[120]
John W. Dean III (R) Counsel to
Nixon, convicted of obstruction of justice.[120]
Dwight L. Chapin (R) Deputy
Assistant to Nixon, convicted of perjury.[120]
Charles W. Colson (R) Special
Consul to Nixon, convicted of obstruction of justice.[121]
Legislative branch
Cornelius Gallagher (D-New Jersey)
pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and served two years in prison.[124]
J. Irving Whalley (R-Pennsylvania)
Received suspended three-year sentence and fined $11,000 in 1973 for
using mails to deposit staff salary kickbacks and threatening an
employee to prevent her from giving information to the FBI.[104]
Martin B. McKneally (R-New York)
Placed on one-year probation and fined $5,000 in 1971 for failing to
file income tax return. He had not paid taxes for many years
prior.[125]
New York US Representative James
Fred Hastings (R-NY) was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National
Convention and the 1972 Republican National Convention. He was
elected to Congress in 1968 and served from January 3, 1969, until he
resigned on January 20, 1976 after being convicted of kickbacks and
mail fraud. He served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary
(1976).[126]
1963–1969 (Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
presidency)
Legislative branch
Ted Kennedy Senator
(D-Massachusetts) drove his car into the channel between
Chappaquiddick Island and Martha's Vineyard, killing passenger Mary
Jo Kopechne. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an
accident and received a suspended sentence of two months [127] (1969)
Daniel Brewster (D-Maryland)
Senator pleaded no contest to accepting " an unlawful gratuity
without corrupt intent ".[128]
Frank W. Boykin Congressman (D-AL)
was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest in July 1963.
[129]
1961–1963 (Kennedy (D) presidency)
Legislative branch
Thomas F. Johnson (D-Maryland) was
convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest regarding the
receipt of illegal gratuities.[130]
Frank Boykin (D-Alabama) Was placed
on probation and fined $40,000 following conviction in a case
involving a conflict of interest and conspiracy to defraud the
government. He was pardoned by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.[131]
1953–1961 (Eisenhower (R) presidency)
Legislative branch
Thomas J. Lane (D-Massachusetts)
convicted for evading taxes on his congressional income. Served 4
months in prison, but was re-elected three more times.[132] before
his 1962 defeat due to re-districting. (1956) [133]
Ernest K. Bramblett (R-California)
Received a suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine in 1955 for making
false statements in connection with payroll padding and kickbacks
from congressional employees.[134]
1945–1953 (Truman (D) presidency)
Legislative branch
Walter E. Brehm (R-Ohio) convicted
of accepting contributions illegally from one of his employees.
Received a 15 month suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine.[135]
J. Parnell Thomas (R-New Jersey): a
member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), was
convicted of salary fraud and given an 18-month sentence and a fine,
resigning from Congress in 1950. He was imprisoned in Danbury Prison
with two of the Hollywood Ten he had helped put there. After serving
his 18 months he was pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952,[136]
Andrew J. May (D-Kentucky)
Convicted of accepting bribes in 1947 from a war munitions
manufacturer. Was sentenced to 9 months in prison, after which he was
pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952.[137]
James M. Curley (D-Massachusetts)
fined $1,000 and served six-months for fraud before Harry S. Truman
commuted the rest of his sentence.[138]
1933–1945 (Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
presidency)
Legislative branch
John H. Hoeppel (D-California)
convicted in 1936 of selling an appointment to the West Point
Military Academy. He was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 4-12 months in
jail.[139]
1921–1923 (Harding (R) presidency)
Executive branch
The Harding administration was marred
by scandals stemming from his appointment of men in his
administration whom he had known in Ohio. They came to be known as
the Ohio Gang. They include;
Albert Fall (R) Secretary of the
Interior who was bribed by Harry F. Sinclair for control of the
Teapot Dome federal oil reserves in Wyoming. He was the first U.S.
cabinet member to ever be convicted; he served two years in prison.
(1922) [140]
Charles R. Forbes (R) appointed by
Harding as the first director of the new Bureau of Veterans Affairs.
After constructing and modernizing VA hospitals, he was convicted of
bribery and corruption and sentenced to two years in jail.[141]
Thomas W. Miller (R), Head of the
Office of Alien Property: convicted of fraud by selling valuable
German patents seized after World War I for far below market price as
well as bribery. Served 18 months.[142]
1901-1909 (Theodore Roosevelt (R)
presidency)
Legislative Branch
Henry B. Cassel (R-Pennsylvania)
was convicted of fraud related to the construction of the
Pennsylvania State Capitol (1909).[143][144]
John Hipple Mitchell Senator
(R-Oregon) was involved with the Oregon land fraud scandal, for which
he was indicted and convicted while a sitting U.S. Senator. (1905)
[145]
Joseph R. Burton Senator (R-Kansas)
was convicted of accepting a $2500 bribe in 1904. [146]
1869–1877 (Grant (R) presidency)
Executive branch
Whiskey Ring: Massive corruption of
Ulysses S. Grant's (R) administration involving whiskey taxes,
bribery and kickbacks ending with 110 convictions. (1875) [147]
John J. McDonald (R) Supervisor of
the Internal Revenue Service. Convicted and sentenced to three
years.[147] [148]
1777–1868
Matthew Lyon (Democratic
Republican-Kentucky). First Congressman to be recommended for censure
after spitting on Roger Griswold (Federalist-Connecticut). The
censure failed to pass.[149] Also found guilty of violating John
Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts and sentenced to four months in jail,
during which he was re-elected (1798) [150]
John Pickering, Federal Judge
appointed by George Washington was impeached and convicted in
absentia by the U.S. Senate for drunkenness and use of profanity on
the bench in spite of the fact neither act was a high crime or
misdemeanor. (1804)[151]
See also
List of federal political scandals
in the United States
List of federal political sex
scandals in the United States
Federal politicians:
List of United States senators
expelled or censured
List of United States
Representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded
State and local politics:
List of American state and local
politicians convicted of crimes
List of state and local political
scandals in the United States
List of state and local political
sex scandals in the United States
Notes – (Gives references to every
claim made above).
And these are the type of people
that are seeking 'extended background checks' on We The
People? The very same type that are presently disregarding our
Constitution at will? Wonder how much the list will be expanded once 'Obama' is [finally] finished? We all know about the present and recent criminal acts of our federal government after all.
No, it looks more like we need 'extended background checks' on our politicians. We would probably be far more secure in that event. It also appears, based upon recent events. That we need not only a House cleaning, but the senate could use a good vacuuming. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to scour out the agencies and bureaus as well....
No, it looks more like we need 'extended background checks' on our politicians. We would probably be far more secure in that event. It also appears, based upon recent events. That we need not only a House cleaning, but the senate could use a good vacuuming. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to scour out the agencies and bureaus as well....
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