Political scandals of the United States: Encyclopedia II - Political scandals of the United States - Federal-level Scandals

Political scandals of the United States - Federal-level Scandals

Political scandals of the United States - 1700s

• King George III and Thomas Hutchinson, royal governor of Massachusetts, accused in the Declaration of Independence (1776) of outrageous wrongdoing and abuses against fundamental rights
• Conway Cabal (1777-1778), movement or conspiracy to remove George Washington as commander of the Continental Army
• Yazoo land scandal (1790s)

Political scandals of the United States - 1800s

• Aaron Burr duel with Alexander Hamilton (1804); See also Burr's "New Empire" conspiracy
• Judge John Pickering impeached and convicted in absentia by U.S. Senate for drunkenness and use of profanity on the bench (1804)
• Aaron Burr New Empire (Southwest) conspiracy (1804-1807) and treason trial (1807)
• James Wilkinson conspiracies (1787-1811)
• Corrupt Bargain (1824)
• Swartwout-Hoyt scandal involving the Port of New York Collectors' Office, became a struggle between President John Tyler and Congress concerning authority to appoint and pay investigative commissioners (1841-1842)
• Simon Cameron, war profiteer (1860-1862)
• Tammany Hall (1854-1934)
• Gould-Fisk Gold Conspiracy Black Friday scandal (1869)
• Crédit Mobilier of America scandal (1872)
• Salary Grab Act (1873)
• Sanborn Contract
• Whiskey Ring (1875)
• Bribing of Secretary of War William Belknap leading to impeachment and resignation; President Grant's acceptance of Belknap's resignation created an additional scandal and controversy, as this was believed by some to have deprived the Senate of jurisdiction over the impeachment (1876)
• Star Route Frauds postal contract corruption involving Arkansas Sen. Stephen W. Dorsey, who became Secretary of the Republican National Committee during James A. Garfield's 1880 presidential campaign (1876-1882)
• Senator-elect La Fayette Grover implicated (1878) in vote-rigging scheme while Governor of Oregon: See State and local-level scandals
• Ezra Ayres Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, forced to resign by Secretary of Insterior Carl Schurz due to allegations of rampant corruption (1880)
• Dakota Territorial Governor Nehemiah Ordway indicted on corruption charges (1884) and removed by President Arthur

Political scandals of the United States - 1900 - 1945

• Newport Sex Scandal (1919) Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated an investigation into allegations of "immoral conduct" (homosexuality) at Naval base in Newport, Rhode Island; the investigators were themselves ultimately accused misconduct, including ties to homosexuality (Consider moving to Sex scandal category)
• Teapot Dome scandal (1922)
• Deal supposedly struck in private meeting between Henry Ford and President Calvin Coolidge, relating to 1924 presidential contest and sale of Tennessee Valley hydroelectric complex at Muscle Shoals (1922-1924)

Political scandals of the United States - 1946 - 1974

• Department of Justice tax scandal (1951-1952) leading to the firing or forced resignations of 166 employees of the agency; investigations were widely regarded as a systematic cover-up for high-level wrongdoing
• McCarthyism (1948-1954)
• 1952 Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Richard Nixon delivers televised "Checkers Speech," to deflect scandal about $18,000 in gifts, maintaining that the only personal gift he had received was a cocker spaniel dog named "Checkers"
• Vicuna Coat scandal of Eisenhower's chief of staff Llewelyn S. Adams (1958); See State and Local level (New Hampshire)
• Billy Sol Estes (1961)
• Bobby Baker (1963) aide to LBJ was involved with underworld figures
• Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. of New York expelled from Congress (1967) but re-elected anyway
• Senator Thomas J. Dodd censured for financial misconduct and corruption (1967)
• Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas resigns in financial scandal (1969) that emerged during his nomination to become Chief Justice
• Harold Carswell nominated by President Nixon as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court withdrew (1970) after publication of a speech 20 years earlier: "I yield to no man . . . in the firm, vigorous belief in the principles of white supremacy."
• John Connally Milk Money scandal
• Pentagon Papers (1971)
• Watergate scandal (1972-1973)
• Nixon Jewelry (1974) Violation of Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1881, as amended in 1966.
• Spiro T. Agnew scandal (1973)
• Judge Otto Kerner, Jr. resigned U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (1974) after exhausting appeals in conviction for bribery, mail fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion while Kerner was Governor of Illinois
• Nixon Pardon by President Ford (1974)

Political scandals of the United States - 1975 - 1999

• "Lancegate": President Carter's OMB Director Bert Lance resignation amidst allegations of misuse of funds (1977)
• Jimmy Carter's Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan target of special prosecution (beginning 1979)
• "Billygate": President Jimmy Carter's brother Billy Carter was found to be a paid agent of the government of Libya (1980); ensuing scandal did not help President Carter's bid for re-election in 1980
• Tongsun Park "Koreagate" scandal involving alleged bribery of more than 100 members of Congress by South Korean government; charges were pressed only against congressmen Richard T. Hanna (convicted) and Otto E. Passman (not prosecuted because of illness); also implicated was South Korean President Park Chung Hee (1977-1980)
• Betty Ford addictions (1978)
• Senator Herman Talmadge of Georgia punished after his ex-wife produced cash "gifts" he had hidden in an overcoat (1979); Talmadge later wrote, "I wish I'd burned that damn overcoat and charged everything on American Express." Talmadge the same year admitted to having spent five weeks in alcohol rehabilitation; he was not re-elected to the Senate in 1980.
• Abscam (1980)
• "Debategate": briefing book of President Jimmy Carter stolen and given to Ronald Reagan campaign before 1980 presidential election debate in Cleveland, Ohio (1980)
• October Surprise (1980)
• Secretary of Labor Raymond J. Donovan investigated (beginning 1981) for wrongdoing and ultimately acquitted of larceny and fraud (1987)
• Anne Gorsuch Burford refusal to turn over EPA documents (1982)
• William Casey insider trading (1983)
• Iran-Contra affair (1985-1986)
• Savings and loan scandal and the Keating Five (1980-1989): Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, Don Riegle, John Glenn, and John McCain
• Preferential treatment for military contractor Wedtech implicates Attorney General Edwin Meese and White House aide Lynn Nofziger (1987)
• "Pothead jurist," 1987: President Reagan's first controversial nominee to replace Justice Powell was Judge Robert Bork. Judge Bork, who coincidentally had fired Archibald Cox in the Nixon-era Saturday Night Massacre, was rejected for his allegedly extreme judicial philosophy; the second nominee was Judge Douglas Ginsberg, who had to drop out of consideration after he admitted having smoked marijuana while a Harvard Law School professor.
• Senator John Tower's nomination as Defense Secretary derailed due to allegations of habitual and extreme alcohol abuse and improper ties to defense industry (1987)
• Mario Biaggi convicted (1988) in Wedtech scandal of bribery, extortion, racketeering, filing a false tax return, mail fraud, and false financial disclosure; resigned from U.S. House before he could be expelled
• Speaker of the U.S. House Jim Wright from Texas forced to resign after ethics committee investigation found dozens of violations of House rules, including alleged improper receipt of $145,000 in gifts by Wright's wife from a Fort Worth developer and large profits from "sale" of Wright's speeches (1989)
• Anthony Lee Coelho of California resigns from U.S. House for unethical finance practices including "junk bond" deal (1989)
• Alcee Hastings, federal district court judge impeached (1989) and convicted of soliciting a bribe; subsequently elected (1992) to U.S. House
• Senator David Durenberger denounced by Senate for unethical financial transactions (1990)
• Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal implicates former Defense Secretary and Washington insider Clark Clifford (1991)
• House Bank scandal (1992)
• Mary Rose Oakar (1992) allegations of "ghost employees" on payroll
• President George H.W. Bush's pardon of 6 Iran-Contra affair figures on his last day in office ( January 20, 1993), days before the perjury trial of Casper Weinberger was scheduled to begin.
• Travelgate (1993)
• Zoe Baird's nomination as Attorney General and Kimba Wood's subsequent near-nomination were derailed by past employment of illegal aliens as nannies. (1993)
• Dan Rostenkowski and other Democratic Members of Congress in the Congressional Post Office Scandal (1991 - 1995)
• The evident suicide (1993) of White House lawyer Vince Foster, together with accusations that documents from Foster's office relating to an investigation had disappeared mysteriously, fueled scandalous speculations, including the widely publicized suggestion (dismissed by investigators) that Foster's death had not been suicide.
• White House Coffees and Lincoln Bedroom sales -- political donations linked to access to President Clinton, including the apparent sale of "coffees" with him, and what amounted to the renting out of the Lincoln Bedroom.
• Walter Fauntroy, Delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia, guilty plea regarding lying on financial disclosure form (1995)
• Commerce Secretary Ron Brown investigated (1995)
• Americorps head Eli Segal investigated (1996)
• Wes Cooley (1996)
• Filegate -- Misuse of FBI resources by White House Security Chief under President Bill Clinton, allegedly to compile an enemies list (1996); investigation found insufficient evidence of criminal wrongdoing
• Walter R. Tucker III of California resigned before bribery conviction (1996)
• Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich financial improprieties leading to House reprimand and assessment of $300,000 sanction (1997)
• Secretary of Agriculture Michael Espy forced to resign from office despite ultimate acquittal on criminal corruption charges (1998)
• Labor Secretary Alexis Herman investigated (1998) in connection with alleged illegal fundraising and other financial improprieties, ultimately cleared (2001)
• Bruce Babbitt, Interior Secretary, independent probe (1998-2000) of alleged lying to Congress concerning influence of money in 1995 American Indian tribe casino decision finds no criminally prosecutable perjury by Babbitt
• Vice-President Al Gore (1998) allegations of improper fundraising and "no controlling legal authority" defense
• Whitewater scandal (1994-2000)
• Teamstergate Ron Carey's and Bill Clinton's 1996 campaigns for the Presidency of the union and the United States, respectively, swapped Teamsters' Union general treasury funds into Clinton's campaign, for Clinton Campaign funds into Ron Carey's campaign warchest. The Teamsters' political director was jailed. No Clinton officials were charged. Carey's re-election was invalidated; James Hoffa, Jr. was elected when Teamsters election was rerun.
• Henry Cisneros resigns as Housing Secretary and, after lengthy probe that began in 1995, pleads guilty (1999) to lying to the FBI about money he paid former mistress Linda Medlar a.k.a. Linda Jones; later pardoned by President Clinton in 2001 (Possibly reclassify or cross-reference to Sex scandal)
• Pardongate (1999 - 2001) -- Bill Clinton appeared to write out pardons, during his lame duck tenure, in response to massive contributions linked to the pardoned. This included a scandal which has become traditional for departing presidents; the sudden flurry of pardons during the final month in office, which would probably not have been deemed tolerable at any other time.

Political scandals of the United States - 2000 -

• Linda Chavez, nomination as Secretary of Labor derailed by past employment of illegal alien (2001)
• Enron collapse (2002) leading to investigation of Kenneth Lay, a top political ally and financial donor to the election campaign of President George W. Bush; Lay, who had been named as a leading candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, eventually indicted (2004)
• Jim Traficant (D-Oh.) financial corruption conviction and expulsion from House (2002)
• Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) bribery scandal (2002)
• Trent Lott (R-Miss.) resigned as Senate majority leader amid racial controversy
• Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), becomes Senate majority leader and is alleged to have been deeply involved in campaign finance improprieties. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating insider-trading issues in connection with Frist's July 2005 sale of Hospital Corporation of America shares immediately before the stock's value fell precipitously.
• Yellowcake forgery false evidence presented in case for 2003 invasion of Iraq (2003); related Valerie Plame affair (2004), eventually implicating White House aides Scooter Libby (indicted 2005) and Karl Rove
• Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal (2004-2005)
• Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), reprimanded twice by House Ethics Committee and aides indicted (2004-2005); eventually DeLay himself was indicted (October 2005)
• Bernard Kerik, nomination as Secretary of Homeland Security derailed by past employment of illegal alien as nanny, and amid allegations of various other ethical improprieties (2004)
• Former Clinton administration National Security Advisor Sandy Berger pleads guilty (2005) to unlawfully removing classified documents from the National Archives in October 2003
• Bush administration payment of columnists including Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus (2004-2005)
• Downing Street Memo minutes of U.K. government secret meeting (dated 23 July 2002, leaked 2005) include summary of MI6 Director Sir Richard Dearlove's report that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy."
• Duke Cunningham (R-Cal.) resigned from the House of Representatives and pleaded guilty on November 28, 2005 to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004. Prosecutors said Cunningham admitted to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes.
• Jack Abramoff, Republican lobbyist and key figure in Tom DeLay scandal, is indicted on wire fraud charges (August 2005). Representative Robert Ney (R-Oh.) is named as "Representative No. 1" in the indictment of Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon. Other members of Congress associated with Abramoff include Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Rep. John Doolittle (R-Cal.) and Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.).
• Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal A separate grand jury investigation involving Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Federal-level Scandals", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki