We add mendacity, hypocrisy, and duplicity to stupidity. So who gets the “Dumb Ass” award?

Will it be the loud mouthed Leftist, Gun banning, Anthem kneeling, Flag burning, Open Boarders zLiberal.gifloving, Baby killing for their parts, Goodfella rabble rousing minorities who defecate on the Rule of Law and Good Governance?

Or will it be the RINO accountants, lawyers, politicians and cleric Goodfellas who zrino.gif“cook” the Leftists’ books, resolve the Leftists’ legal disputes and help all the Goodfellas, Leftists and RINOs alike, feel good on Sundays … RINO minorities who defecate slyly and covertly on the Rule of Law and Good Governance? (Don’t cha’ love to see the RINO Romney taken down?)

Let’s talk terms.  In his youth, Grandpa began as a “Wobbly.” Wobblies were a bit too “over and under the top” for him so he settled down as a Democrat for the rest of his life.  He died a 32nd Degree zGrandpaMason, loved his Country and the Lord.  So I learned to love “real” Democrats just as much as I fancied that loving “real” Republicans was legitimate also.  However as time passed, both have been overwhelmed by a cacophony from rabble rousing, self serving minorities on all sides.  Real old time Democrats and real old time Republicans are now seldom seen or heard. We mostly hear only from Leftist Goodfellas and RINO Goodfellas.   So we at the Buzzard’s Blog are wont to lump them all into “Goodfellas.”  However, the distinctions between them are still considerable so we are forced to use “Leftist” and “RINO” from time to time.

So back to who gets the “Dumb Ass” award?  Will the following help clarify things a bit?  We really don’t know but do know we don’t like what we see!  As current matters progress, we are looking forward to balancing the books more clearly and equitably.   As for who gets the “Dumb Ass” award?  We conclude that they all do …. but …

But it’s up to you to decide.  The following charts should bring clarity.

From Daily KOS’s RoyalScribe Article dated Wednesday January 11, 2017 

Comparing scandals by administration

“In comparing scandals by administration, first I had to decide what constituted a scandal. How many were genuine problems versus those artificially hyped by opposition parties. Benghazi? Whitewater? Travelgate? 

Even when someone was forced to resign over a scandal, how much of that was politically motivated rather than a criminal issue, like Joycelyn Elders’ masturbation comments or Shirley Sherrod’s firing over what turned out to be a doctored video?

I ultimately relied on Wikipedia’s list of federal political scandals in the U.S., but limited it to only the executive branch scandals that actually resulted in a criminal indictment. I also decided to only go back as far as Richard Nixon, whose participation in Watergate ultimately resulted in him being the only sitting president to ever resign. This lets many other scandal-ridden administrations off the hook—notably that of Warren Harding and the Teapot Dome scandal, and of Ulysses S. Grant and the Whiskey Ringand Black Friday scandals—but so be it.

The chart below only includes people who served in the administration, and excludes others (like members of Congress and private individuals) who may have also been swept up and indicted for the same scandal. The “Convictions” list includes both those who went to trial and were found guilty as well as those who plea bargained and pleaded guilty. The “Prison Sentences” should be considered a minimum figure, as Wikipedia’s list wasn’t always clear on penalties and I wasn’t able to look all of the unclear ones up. “zchart

“Overall, Richard Nixon’s administration had the most criminal indictments and convictions. Wikipedia’s list enumerates 13 specific individuals who were convicted and imprisoned over Watergate alone, but notes that a total of 69 officials were indicted for the scandal and 48 were either convicted or pleaded guilty. (Nixon himself is not included; after his resignation, President Gerald Ford gave him a blanket pardon, sparing him from any potential indictments. However, his first vice president, Spiro Agnew, is included for indictments unrelated to Watergate.)

The Reagan Administration is next with 26 indictments and 16 convictions (including guilty pleas), followed by the George W. Bush Administration with 16 indictments, all ending in convictions or guilty pleas. The Nixon Administration had at least 15 people serve at least some time in prison for their crimes, while Bush 43’s administration had at least 9 and the Reagan Administration had at least 8. (Scooter Libby’s sentence is included here even though Bush pardoned him in 2007 before he was sent to jail, since the pardon did not expunge the crime and the pardon itself is a political act, not a judicial determination. But others whose convictions were later overturned—like Oliver North’s and John Poindexter’s—are included under indictments but not convictions since it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to second-guess the courts’ reasoning for overturning those convictions.) 

All those Clinton White House “scandals”? Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on hearings on Whitewater, Travelgate, the use of the White House Christmas card list, and other oddities, almost all resulted in absolutely nothing. Clinton himself isn’t included. As with Nixon, the impeachment proceedings themselves should count as an indictment, and in the end his only citation was for contempt of court, which I didn’t interpret as the same as an indictment. (I will update this if folks show me this was incorrect.) The only indictments for his administration were of his Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy (who was acquitted of all 30 charges) and of Espy’s chief of staff Ronald Blackely, who was convicted of making a false statement and sentenced to 27 months in prison. 

The George H. W. Bush Administration only had a single criminal indictment, but it’s notable for two reasons. It was the only time that a U.S. treasurer has ever gone to prison. But Catalina Vasquez Villalpando’s conviction and sentence is probably less notable than who didn’t go to jail: President Bush 41 himself escaped potentially ruinous scandal by granting clemency to six people indicted in the Reagan Administration’s Iran-Contra scandal, thereby avoiding trials that could have exposed Bush 41’s involvement.”

Crimes_by_Admin.pngExecutive branch criminal actions from Richard Nixon through Barack Obama.

Comparing scandals by party

Just glancing at the chart above, it’s pretty clear which administrations are the most criminal, but let’s roll up the data anyway.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES BY PARTY SINCE 1968
ADMINISTRATION

TOTAL YEARS

IN OFFICE

CRIMINAL

INDICTMENTS

CRIMINAL

CONVICTIONS

PRISON

SENTENCES
DEMOCRATIC 20 3 1 1
REPUBLICAN 28 120 89 34

“Some might try to argue that this unfairly penalizes Republican administrations because GOP administrations held office for eight more years than Democratic administrations during this time period. The huge gap between the numbers shows how ridiculous that is, but even so, let’s get the averages per year of combined administrations:

AVERAGE EXECUTIVE BRANCH CRIMINAL ACTIONS BY YEAR SINCE 1968
ADMINISTRATION

AVERAGE #

INDICTMENTS

PER YEAR

AVERAGE #

CONVICTIONS

PER YEAR

AVERAGE #

IMPRISONMENTS

PER YEAR
DEMOCRATIC 0.15 0.05 0.05
REPUBLICAN 4.29 3.18 1.21

Even when we standardize it by getting annual averages, GOP administrations still have 29 times more indictments, 64 times more convictions, and 24 times more prison sentences. 

Crimes_by_Admin_Party_comp.png
Average annual executive branch criminal actions by party dating back to 1969.

For those who say going back to Nixon’s Administration in order to include Watergate was an arbitrary cut-off, I’d argue that excluding Watergate would have been a more extraordinary and arbitrary decision. It was the biggest political scandal of modern times and the only one to lead to the resignation of a sitting president. It marked a huge turning point in the American public’s distrust and skepticism of our governmental institutions. And while I could have included the Johnson administration in order to make it the last 50+ years rather than 48, that would just serve to make the Republican metrics look even worse. It would have added five years to the Democrats’ denominator without adding any more executive branch criminal actions to their numerator, which have just served to lower the Democratic annual percentages even further. And while Watergate and other criminal actions in the Nixon administration certainly added a huge chunk to Republican totals, the Reagan and Bush 43 administrations certainly did their part to keep those numbers up.”

List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 that 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. Since the passage of Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution on January 23, 1933, presidential terms have begun on January 20 of the year following the presidential election; prior to that, they began on March 4.

Contents

2017–Present (Donald J. Trump (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

2009–2017 (Barack Obama (D) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Corrine Brown (D-FL) was convicted on 18 felony counts of wire and tax fraud, conspiracy, lying to federal investigators, and other corruption charges. (2017)[4][5]
  • Chaka Fattah (D-PA) was convicted on 23 counts of racketeering, fraud, and other corruption charges. (2016)[6]
  • Dennis Hastert (R-IL) Speaker of the United States House of Representatives pleaded guilty in court for illegally structuring bank transactions related to payment of $3.5 million to quash allegations of sexual misconduct with a student when he was a high school teacher and coach decades ago.[7] (2016)
  • Michael Grimm (R-NY) pleaded guilty of felony tax evasion. This was the fourth count in a 20-count indictment brought against him for improper use of campaign funds. The guilty plea had a maximum sentence of three years; he was sentenced to eight months in prison. (2015)[8][9]
  • Trey Radel (R-FL) was convicted of possession of cocaine in November 2013. As a first-time offender, he was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250. Radel announced he would take a leave of absence, but did not resign. Later, under pressure from a number of Republican leaders, he announced through a spokesperson that he would resign. (2013)[10][11][12]
  • Rick Renzi (R-AZ) was found guilty on 17 of 32 counts against him June 12, 2013, including wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. (2013)[13]
  • Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) pleaded guilty February 20, 2013, to one count of wire and mail fraud in connection with his misuse of $750,000 in campaign funds. Jackson was sentenced to two and one-half years’ imprisonment. (2013)[14]
  • Laura Richardson (D-CA) was found guilty on seven counts of violating US House rules by improperly using her staff to campaign for her, destroying the evidence and tampering with witness testimony. The House Ethics Committee ordered Richardson to pay a fine of $10,000. (2012)[15][16]
  • Steve Stockman (R-TX) was convicted of fraud. (2018)[17]
  • Anthony Weiner (D-NY)[18] was convicted of sending sexually explicit photos of himself to a 15-year-old girl and was made to sign the sexual offenders register. (2017)[19]

Judicial branch[edit source]

  • Mark E. Fuller (R) U.S. District Judge was found guilty of domestic violence and sentenced to 24 weeks of family and domestic training and forced to resign his position. (2015)[20][21][22]

2001–2009 (George W. Bush (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

  • Scott Bloch (R) United States Special Counsel. pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for “willfully and unlawfully withholding pertinent information from a House Committee investigating his decision to have several government computers wiped …”[23][24] On June 24, 2013, U. S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins sentenced Bloch to one day in jail and two years’ probation, and also ordered him to pay a $5000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.(2010) [25]
  • David Safavian (R) Administrator for the Office of Management and Budget[26] where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.[27][28] He was found guilty of blocking justice and lying,[29] and sentenced to 18 months. (2008)[30][31]
  • 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. (2007)[32] Libby was pardoned by President Donald J. Trump on April 13, 2018. [33]
  • 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) [34]
  • Claude Allen (R) Director of the Domestic Policy Council, was arrested for a series of felony thefts in retail stores. (2006) He was convicted on one count and resigned soon after.[35]
  • Darleen A. Druyun (D)[citation needed], Principal Deputy United States Under Secretary of the Air Force.[36] She pleaded guilty to inflating the price of contracts to favor her future employer, Boeing. 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.(2005).[37] CBS News called it “the biggest Pentagon scandal in 20 years” and said that she pleaded guilty to a felony.[38]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • William J. Jefferson (D-LA) was charged in August 2005 after the FBI seized $90,000 in cash from his home freezer. He was re-elected to the House in 2006, but lost in 2008. He was convicted November 13, 2009, of 11 counts of bribery and sentenced to 13 years in prison. (2009)[39] Jefferson’s Chief of Staff Brett Pfeffer, was sentenced to 84 months for bribery. (2006) [40]
  • 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:
  1. 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. (2007)[41]
  • Duke Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty 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 and was sentenced to over eight years in prison. (2005)[42]
  • Frank Ballance (D-NC) admitted to federal charges of money laundering and mail fraud in October 2005 and was sentenced to four years in prison. (2005)[43]
  • Bill Janklow (R-SD) was 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)[44]
  • Jim Traficant (D-OH) was found guilty on ten felony counts of financial corruption, sentenced to eight years in prison and expelled from the House of Representatives. (2002) [45]

1993–2001 (Bill Clinton (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Mel Reynolds (D-IL) was convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. (1997) He was later convicted of 12 counts of bank fraud. (1999)
  • Wes Cooley (R-OR), 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)[46] He was later convicted of income tax fraud connected to an investment scheme. He was sentenced to one year in prison and to pay restitution of $3.5 million to investors and $138,000 to the IRS.[47]
  • Austin Murphy (D-PA) was convicted of one count of voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members of a nursing home. (1999) [48]
  • House banking scandal [49] 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)
  1. Buz Lukens (R-OH) convicted of bribery and conspiracy.[50]
  2. Carl C. Perkins (D-KY) pleaded guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank).[51]
  3. Carroll Hubbard (D-KY) was convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife’s 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress.[52]
  4. Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank.[53]
  5. Walter Fauntroy (D-District of Columbia) was convicted of filing false disclosure forms to hide unauthorized income.[54]
  1. Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.[56]
  2. Joe Kolter (D-PA) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and sentenced to 6 months in prison.(1996)[57][58]

1989–1993 (George H. W. Bush (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Nicholas Mavroules (D-Massachusetts) was 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) [60][61]
  • Albert Bustamante (D-Texas) was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to three and one-half years in prison. (1993) [62]
  • 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) [63]
  • Jay Kim (R-CA) accepted $250,000 in illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months house arrest. (1992)[64][65][66][67]

1981–1989 (Ronald Reagan (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

See also: Reagan administration scandals
  • Operation Ill Wind was a three-year investigation launched in 1986 by the FBI into corruption by U.S. government and military officials, and private defense contractors.
  1. Melvyn Paisley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy,[68] was found to have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. He pleaded guilty to bribery and served four years in prison.[69][70][71]
  2. James E. Gaines, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, took over when Paisley resigned his office.[72] Gaines was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity and theft and conversion of government property. He was sentenced to six months in prison.[73]
  3. Victor D. Cohen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, was the 50th conviction obtained under the Ill Wind probe when he pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and conspiring to defraud the government. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison.[74][75]
  • Housing and Urban Development Scandal was a controversy concerning bribery by selected contractors for low income housing projects.[76]
  1. James G. Watt (R) United States Secretary of the Interior, was charged with 25 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Sentenced to five years probation, fined $5,000 and 500 hours of community service[77]
  • 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.[78]
  1. 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.[79]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Abscam FBI sting involving fake ‘Arabs’ trying to bribe 31 congressmen. (1980) [81] The following Congressmen were convicted:
  1. Harrison A. Williams Senator (D-NJ) Convicted on 9 counts of bribery and conspiracy. Sentenced to 3 years in prison.[82]
  2. John Jenrette (D-SC) sentenced to two years in prison for bribery and conspiracy.[83]
  3. Richard Kelly (R-FL) Accepted $25K and then claimed he was conducting his own investigation into corruption. Served 13 months.[84]
  4. Raymond Lederer (D-PA) “I can give you me” he said after accepting $50K. Sentenced to 3 years.[85]
  5. Michael Myers (D-PA) Accepted $50K saying, “…money talks and bullshit walks.” Sentenced to 3 years and was expelled from the House.[86]
  6. Frank Thompson (D-NJ) Sentenced to 3 years.[87]
  7. John M. Murphy (D-NY) Served 20 months of a 3-year sentence.[88]
  • Wedtech scandal Wedtech Corporation was convicted of bribery in connection with Defense Department contracts.[89]
  1. Mario Biaggi (D-NY) Convicted of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gratuities he was sentenced to 2½ years in prison and fined $500K. (1987)[90]
  2. Robert Garcia (D-NY) sentenced to 2½ years.[91]
  • Pat Swindall (R-GA) convicted of 6 counts of perjury. (1989) [92][93]
  • George V. Hansen (R-ID) censured for failing to fill out disclosure forms. Spent 15 months in prison. (1984)[94]
  • Frederick W. Richmond (D-NY), Convicted of tax evasion and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months (1982) [95]
  • Dan Flood (D-PA) censured for bribery. After a trial ended in a deadlocked jury, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year’s probation. (1981)[96][97]
  • Joshua Eilberg (D-PA) pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges. (1981)[98]
  • Jon Hinson (R-MS) was arrested for having homosexual oral sex in the House of Representatives’ bathroom with a government staffer. Hinson, who was married, later received a 30-day jail sentence, and a year’s probation, on condition that he get counseling and treatment. (1981) [99][100]

1977–1981 (Jimmy Carter (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Frank M. Clark (D-Pennsylvania) pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to two years in prison. (1979)[101]
  • J. Herbert Burke (R-FL) pleaded guilty to disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, and nolo contendere to an additional charge of witness tampering. He was sentenced to three months plus fines.(1978)[102]
  • Fred Richmond (D-New York) – Convicted of tax fraud and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months in prison. Charges of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy were dropped after he submitted to counseling. (1978) [103]
  • 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) [104]
  • Richard Tonry (D-Louisiana) pleaded guilty to receiving illegal campaign contributions. (1977)[105]
  • Andrew J. Hinshaw (R-CA) US Representative was convicted of accepting bribes. He served one year in prison. (1977)[106][107]

1974–1977 (Gerald R. Ford (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

  • Earl Butz (R) United States Secretary of Agriculture. He was charged with failing to report more than $148,000 in 1978. Butz pleaded guilty to the tax evasion charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation and was ordered to make restitution. He served 25 days behind bars before his release.[108][109]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • 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) [110]
  • 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)[111]
  • Frank Brasco (D-New York) sentenced to 5 years 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. (1974)[98]
  • Richard T. Hanna (D-CA), convicted in an influence-buying scandal. (1974)[112]
  • John V. Dowdy (D-Texas), convicted of perjury and served 6 months in prison. (1973) [113][114]

1969–1974 (Richard M. Nixon (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

  • Maurice Stans (R) United States Secretary of Commerce, pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the reporting sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act and two counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions and was fined $5,000.(1975)[115]
  • Spiro Agnew (R) former Vice President of the United States, convicted of income-tax evasion. (1973)[116]
  • 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.[117]
  1. John N. Mitchell (R) former United States Attorney General, convicted of perjury.[118]
  2. Richard Kleindienst (R) United States Attorney General, convicted of obstruction, given one month in jail.
  3. H. R. Haldeman (R) White House Chief of Staff, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.
  4. John Ehrlichman (R) former White House Counsel, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.
  5. Egil Krogh (R) United States Undersecretary of Transportation, sentenced to six months.
  6. John Dean (R) White House Counsel, convicted of obstruction of justice, later reduced to felony offenses and served 4 months.
  7. Dwight Chapin (R) Secretary to the President of the United States, convicted of perjury.
  8. Charles Colson (R) Special Counsel to the President for Public Liaison, convicted of obstruction of justice. Served 7 months.

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • James Fred Hastings (R-NY) convicted of receiving kickbacks and mail fraud. He served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary (1976).[110]
  • Edwin Reinecke (R-CA) convicted of perjury and sentenced to 18 months in prison as part of the Watergate investigation. (1973)
  • 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. (1973)[98]
  • Martin B. McKneally (R-New York) placed on one-year probation and fined $5,000 for failing to file income tax return. He had not paid taxes for many years prior. (1971)[119]
  • Cornelius Gallagher (D-New Jersey) pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and served two years in prison.(1972)[120]
  • 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 (1969)[121]

1963–1969 (Lyndon B. Johnson (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Daniel Brewster (D-MD) pleaded no contest to accepting “an unlawful gratuity without corrupt intent.” (1969)[122]
  • Frank W. Boykin (D-AL) was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest. (1963)[123]

1961–1963 (John F. Kennedy (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Thomas F. Johnson (D-Maryland) was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest regarding the receipt of illegal gratuities. (1962)[124]

1953–1961 (Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • 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 [125] (1956). [126]
  • Ernest K. Bramblett (R-California) received a suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine for making false statements in connection with payroll padding and kickbacks from congressional employees. (1954)[127]

1945–1953 (Harry S. Truman (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • Walter E. Brehm (R-OH) convicted of accepting contributions illegally from one of his employees. Received a 15-month suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine. (1951)[128]
  • J. Parnell Thomas (R-NJ) was convicted of salary fraud and given an 18-month sentence and a fine. He was imprisoned in Danbury Prison. After serving his 18 months he was pardoned by Truman. (1950)[129]
  • Andrew J. May (D-KY) convicted of accepting bribes from a war munitions manufacturer. Was sentenced to 9 months in prison, after which he was pardoned by Truman. (1947)[130]
  • James M. Curley (D-MA) fined $1,000 and served six-months for fraud before Harry S. Truman commuted the rest of his sentence. (1947)[131]

1933–1945 (Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • John H. Hoeppel (D-CA) convicted of selling an appointment to the West Point Military Academy. He was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 4–12 months in jail. (1936)[132]
  • Michael J. Hogan (R-NY) was convicted of bribery and sentenced to a year and a day in a Federal Penitentiary.(1935)[133]

1929-1933 (Herbert Hoover (R) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative Branch[edit source]

  • Harry E. Rowbottom, (R-IN) was convicted in Federal court of accepting bribes from persons who sought post office appointments. He served one year in Leavenworth.(1931)[134]

1923–1929 (Calvin Coolidge (R) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative branch[edit source]

  • John W. Langley (R-KY) convicted of violating the Volstead Act (Prohibition). He had also been caught trying to bribe a Prohibition officer. He was sentenced to two years, after which his wife Katherine G. Langley ran for Congress in his place and won two full terms. (1926)[135][136]

1921–1923 (Warren G. Harding (R) presidency)[edit source]

Executive branch[edit source]

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;

  1. 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) [137]

1913-1921 (Woodrow Wilson (D) presidency)[edit source]

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1909–1913 (William Howard Taft (R) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative Branch[edit source]

  • William Lorimer Senator (R-IL), The ‘blond boss of Chicago’ was found guilty of accepting bribes in 1912.[138]

Judicial Branch[edit source]

1901-1909 (Theodore Roosevelt (R) presidency)[edit source]

Legislative Branch[edit source]

1897-1901 (McKinley (R) presidency)[edit source]

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1777–1897[edit source]

Judges[edit source]

See also[edit source]

Federal politicians:

State and local politics:

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.”
— Arundhati Roy in “Confronting Empire”, 27 January 2003.

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