Federal government scandals2009– Obama AdministrationExecutive Branch- Steven T. Miller Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service
- Joseph Grant, commissioner of the IRS Tax-exempt and Government entities division, resigned on May 16. [9]
- Lois Lerner head of the IRS Office of Exempt Organizations stated she had not done anything wrong and then took the Fifth before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. [10]
Legislative Branch- Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-IL) pled guilty to one felony count of fraud for using $750,000 of campaign money to buy personal items such as stuffed animals, elk heads and fur capes. His wife, Sandi Jackson, who is a Chicago City Alderman, pled guilty to filing false income tax statements at the same time. [11]
- 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) [12] [13]
- John Ensign (R-NV) resigned his Senate seat on May 3, 2011, just before the Senate Ethics Committee could examine possible fiscal violations in connection with his extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton. (2011) [14] [15] [16] [17] (see Federal sex scandals) In May 2012, aide Doug Hampton (R) in what became the John Ensign scandal reached a plea deal with prosecutors, the details of which have not yet been released. [18]
- Tom DeLay (R-TX) On November 24, 2010, a Texas jury convicted DeLay of money laundering connected to the Jack Abramoff scandal. (2010) [19] [20] On January 10, 2011, he was sentenced to three years in prison in Texas. [21] [22]
Judicial Branch- G. Thomas Porteous Federal Judge for Eastern Louisiana was unanimously impeached by the US House of Representatives on charges of bribery and perjury in March 2010. He was convicted by the US Senate and removed from office. He had been appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton. (2010) [23] [24] [25]
- Samuel B. Kent Federal District Judge of Galveston, Texas, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for lying about sexually harassing two female employees. He had been appointed to office by Republican George H. W. Bush in 1990. (2009) [26] [27]
2001–2009 George W. Bush AdministrationExecutive Branch- PRISM (surveillance program) was signed into law on Sept. 11, 2007, by President George W. Bush after he signed the Protect America Act allowing the National Security Agency to start a massive domestic surveillance program known as PRISM on Sept. 11, 2007. [28] “I put that program in place to protect the country”, he said [29]
- Felipe Sixto, was appointed by President George W. Bush to be his Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs as well as Duty Director at the Office of Public Liaison. He resigned a few weeks later on March 20, 2008 because of his misuse of grant money from the U.S. Agency for International Development when he had worked for the Center for a Free Cuba. [30] He was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing almost $600,000 for personal use. [31]
- Timothy Goeglein Special Assistant to President Bush resigned when it was discovered that more than 20 of his columns had been plagiarized from an Indiana newspaper. (2008) [32]
- Scott Block was appointed by President George W. Bush to head the Office of Special Counsel. On April 27, 2010 Bloch 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 ...." [33] On February 2, Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson ruled that Bloch faces a mandatory sentence of at least one month in prison. [34]
- Lewis Libby 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. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. The 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. [35] [36]
- Alphonso Jackson The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development resigned while under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged cronyism and favoritism [37]
- Karl Rove Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush was investigated by the Office of Special Counsel for "improper political influence over government decision-making", as well as for his involvement in several other scandals such as Lawyergate, Bush White House e-mail controversy and Plame affair. He resigned in April 2007. (See Karl Rove in the George W. Bush administration) [38]
- Richard J. Griffin Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security appointed by George W. Bush who made key decisions regarding the department's oversight of private security contractor Blackwater USA, resigned in November 2007, after a critical review by the House Oversight Committee found that his office had failed to adequately supervise private contractors during the Blackwater Baghdad shootings protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq. [39]
- Howard Krongard, Republican contributor [40] was appointed Inspector General of the US State Department by President George W. Bush in 2005. [41] After he was accused by the House Oversight Committee of improperly interfering with investigations into private security contractor Blackwater USA, concerning the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. Krongard resigned in December 2007. [42] [43]
- " Lawyergate" [44] Or the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy refers to President Bush firing, without explanation, eleven Republican federal prosecutors whom he himself had appointed. It is alleged they were fired for prosecuting Republicans and not prosecuting Democrats. [45] [46] When Congressional hearings were called, a number of senior Justice Department officials cited executive privilege and refused to testify under oath and instead resigned, including:
- Michael A. Battle Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys in the Justice Department. [47]
- Bradley Schlozman Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys who replaced Battle [48]
- Michael Elston Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty [49]
- Paul McNulty Deputy Attorney General to William Mercer [50]
- William W. Mercer Associate Attorney General to Alberto Gonzales [51]
- Kyle Sampson Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [47]
- Alberto Gonzales Attorney General of the United States [52]
- Monica Goodling Liaison between President Bush and the Justice Department [53]
- Joshua Bolten Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush was found in Contempt of Congress [54]
- Sara M. Taylor Aide to Presidential Advisor Karl Rove [55]
- Karl Rove Advisor to President Bush [56]
- Harriet Miers Legal Counsel to President Bush, was found in Contempt of Congress [54]
- Bush White House e-mail controversy – During the Lawyergate investigation it was discovered that the Bush administration used Republican National Committee (RNC) web servers for millions of emails which were then destroyed, lost or deleted in possible violation of the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Andrew Card, Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings all used RNC webservers for the majority of their emails. Of 88 officials investigated, 51 showed no emails at all. [57] As many as 5 million e-mails requested by Congressional investigators were therefore unavailable, lost, or deleted. [58]
- Lurita Alexis Doan Resigned as head of the General Services Administration. She was under scrutiny for conflict of interest and violations of the Hatch Act. [59] Among other things she asked GSA employees how they could "help Republican candidates". [60]
- John Korsmo chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board pled guilty to lying to congress and sentenced to 18 months of unsupervised probation and fined $5,000. (2005) [61]
- Darleen A. Druyun was Principal Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force nominated by George W. Bush. [62] She pled 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. She began her prison term on January 5, 2005. [63] CBS News called it "the biggest Pentagon scandal in 20 years" and said that she pleaded guilty to a felony. [64]
- Philip Cooney Bush appointee to chair the Council on Environmental Quality was accused of editing government climate reports to emphasize doubts about global warming. [65] Two days later, Cooney announced his resignation [66] and later conceded his role in altering reports. Stating "My sole loyalty was to the President and advancing the policies of his administration," . [67] [68]
- Jack Abramoff Scandal in which the prominent lobbyist with close ties to Republican administration officials and legislators offered bribes as part of his lobbying efforts. Abramoff was sentenced to 4 years in prison. [69] [70] See Legislative scandals.
- David Safavian GSA (General Services Administration) Chief of Staff, [71] found guilty of blocking justice and lying, [72] and sentenced to 18 months [73]
- Roger Stillwell Staff in the Department of the Interior under President George W. Bush (R). Pleaded guilty and received two years suspended sentence. [23]
- 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. [74]
- J. Steven Griles former Deputy to the Secretary of the Interior pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 10 months. [75]
- Italia Federici staff to the Secretary of Interior, and President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to four years probation. [76] [77] [78]
- Jared Carpenter Vice-President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, was discovered during the Abramoff investigation and pled guilty to income tax evasion. He got 45 days, plus 4 years probation. [79]
- Mark Zachares staff in the Department of Labor, bribed by Abramoff, guilty of conspiracy to defraud. [70]
- 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) [80]
- Kyle Foggo Executive director of the CIA was convicted of honest services fraud in the awarding of a government contract and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison at Pine Knot, Kentucky. On September 29, 2008, Foggo pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment, admitting that while he was the CIA executive director, he acted to steer a CIA contract to the firm of his lifelong friend, Brent R. Wilkes. [81]
- Julie MacDonald Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, resigned May 1, 2007, after giving government documents to developers (2007) [82]
- Claude Allen Appointed as an advisor by President George W. Bush (R) on Domestic Policy, Allen was arrested for a series of felony thefts in retail stores. He was convicted on one count and resigned soon after. [83]
- Lester Crawford Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, resigned after 2 months. Pled guilty to conflict of interest and received 3 years suspended sentence and fined $90,000 (2006) [84]
- 2003 Invasion of Iraq depended on intelligence that Saddam Hussein was developing "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs) meaning nuclear, chemical and/or biological weapons for offensive use. As revealed by The (British) Downing Street memo "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" The press called this the 'smoking gun."(2005) [85]
- Yellowcake forgery: Just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration presented evidence to the UN that Iraq was seeking material (yellowcake uranium) in Africa for making nuclear weapons. Though presented as true, it was later found to be not only dubious, but outright false. [86]
- Coalition Provisional Authority Cash Payment Scandal: On June 20, 2005, the staff of the Committee on Government Reform prepared a report for Congressman Henry Waxman. [87] It was revealed that $12 billion in cash had been delivered to Iraq by C-130 planes, on shrinkwrapped pallets of US $100 bills. [88] The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, concluded that "Many of the funds appear to have been lost to corruption and waste.... Some of the funds could have enriched both criminals and insurgents...." Henry Waxman, commented, "Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone?" A single flight to Iraq on December 12, 2003, which contained $1.5 billion in cash is said to be the largest single Federal Reserve payout in US history according to Henry Waxman. [89] [90]
- Bush administration payment of columnists with federal funds to say nice things about Republican policies. Illegal payments were made to journalists Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus (2004–2005) [91]
- Bernard Kerik nomination in 2004 as Secretary of Homeland Security was derailed by past employment of an illegal alien as a nanny, and other improprieties. On Nov 4, 2009, he pled guilty to two counts of tax fraud and five counts of lying to the federal government and was sentenced to four years in prison. [92]
- Plame affair (2004), in which CIA agent Valerie Plame's name was supposedly leaked by Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, to the press in retaliation for her husband's criticism of the reports used by George W. Bush to legitimize the Iraq war. [93] Armitage admitted he was the leak [94] but no wrongdoing was found.
- Thomas A. Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), withheld information from Congress about the projected cost of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, and allegedly threatened to fire Medicare's chief actuary, Richard Foster, if Foster provided the data to Congress. (2003) [95] Scully resigned on December 16, 2003.
- NSA warrantless surveillance – Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, President George W. Bush (R) implemented a secret program by the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on domestic telephone calls by American citizens without warrants, thus by-passing the FISA court which must approve all such actions. (2002) [96] In 2010, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled this practice to be illegal. [97]
- Janet Rehnquist (daughter of former Chief Justice William Rehnquist) appointed Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services by George W. Bush. In 2002, Governor Jeb Bush's (R-FL) Chief of Staff Kathleen Shanahan asked Rehnquist to delay auditing a $571 million federal overpayment to the State of Florida. Rehnquist ordered her staff to delay the investigation for five months until after the Florida elections. When Congress began an investigation into the matter, Rehnquist resigned in March 2003, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. [98] [99] [100] [100] [101] [102]
- John Yoo An attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel inside the Justice Department who, working closely with vice president Dick Cheney and The Bush Six, [103] wrote memos stating the right of the president to –
- suspend sections of the ABM Treaty without informing Congress [104]
- bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allowing warrentless wiretapping of US Citizens within the United States by the National Security Agency. [104]
- state that the First Amendment and Fourth Amendments and the Takings Clause do not apply to the president in time of war as defined in the USA PATRIOT Act [104]
- allow Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (torture) because provisions of the War Crimes Act, the Third Geneva Convention, and the Torture convention do not apply. [104]
Many of his memos have since been repudiated and reversed. [104] [105] Later review by the Justice Department reported that Yoo and Jay Bybee used "poor judgement" in the memos, but no charges were filed. [106]Legislative Branch- Ted Stevens Senator (R-AK) was convicted of seven counts of bribery and tax evasion October 27, 2008. He then lost re-election. Newly appointed US Attorney General Eric Holder dismissed the charges "in the interest of justice" stating that the Justice Department had illegally withheld evidence from defense counsel. [107]
- Charles Rangel (D-NY) failed to report $75,000 income from the rental of his villa in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and was forced to pay $11,000 in back taxes.(September 2008) [108]
- Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Announced he would not seek another term. Seven months later, on February 22, 2008, he pleaded not guilty to 35 charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. [109]
- 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. [110]
- Jack Abramoff Scandal, (R) lobbyist found guilty of conspiracy, tax evasion and corruption of public officials in three different courts in a wide ranging investigation. Currently serving 70 months and fined $24.7 million. [111] See Scandals, Executive Branch. The following were also implicated:
- Tom DeLay (R-TX) The House Majority Leader was reprimanded twice by the House Ethics Committee and his aides indicted (2004–2005); eventually DeLay himself was investigated in October 2005 in connection with the Abramoff scandal, but not indicted. DeLay resigned from the House 9 June 2006. [112] 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. [113]
- Michael Scanlon (R) former staff to Tom DeLay: working for Abramoff, pled guilty to bribery. [69] [70]
- Tony Rudy (R) former staff to Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. [70]
- James W. Ellis executive director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money laundering. [114]
- John Colyandro executive director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money laundering [114]
- 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. [70] [115]
- 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. [116]
- 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. [117]
- John Albaugh, former chief of staff to Ernest Istook (R-OK), pled guilty to accepting bribes connected to the Federal Highway Bill. Istook was not charged. (2008) [118]
- James Hirni, former staff to Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), was charged with wire fraud for giving a staffer for Don Young (R) of Alaska a bribe in exchange for amendments to the Federal Highway Bill. (2008) [119]
- Kevin A. Ring (R) former staff to John Doolittle (R-CA) was convicted of five charges of corruption. [120] [121]
- John Doolittle (R-CA) both he and his wife were under investigation (January 2008). Under this cloud, Doolittle decided not to run for re-election in November 2008. The Justice Department announced in June 2010 they had terminated the investigation and found no wrongdoing. [122]
- Randy 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. [123]
- Kyle Foggo Executive director of the CIA was convicted of honest services fraud in the awarding of a government contract and sentenced to 37 months in the federal prison at Pine Knot, Kentucky. On September 29, 2008, Foggo pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment, admitting that while CIA executive director he acted to steer a CIA contract to the firm of his lifelong friend, Brent R. Wilkes. [81]
- Tan Nguyen (R-CA) congressional candidate for the 47th District was convicted of voter intimidation. He lost the election and was sentenced to one year in prison and six months in a halfway house. (2006) [124]
- Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) struck a U.S. Capitol Police officer in the chest after he attempted to stop her from going around a security checkpoint. McKinney apologized on the floor of the House and no charges were filed (March 29, 2006) [125]
- 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. Jefferson was convicted of 11 counts of bribery and sentenced to 13 years on November 13, 2009, and his chief of staff Brett Pfeffer was sentenced to 84 months in a related case. [126] [127]
- 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 (2003) [128]
- Robert Torricelli Senator (D-NJ) after 14 years in the House and one term in the Senate, Torricelli declined to run again when accused of taking illegal contributions from Korean businessman David Chang. (2002) [129]
- 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) [130]
1993–2001 Bill Clinton AdministrationExecutive Branch[ edit source | editbeta]- Ronald Blackley, Chief of Staff to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, was sentenced to 27 months for perjury. Secretary Espy was found innocent on all counts. [131]
- Bill Clinton President (D) Impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath about sexual relations with intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate and remained in office for the rest of his term. Clinton subsequently was cited for contempt of court and agreed to a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license (1998). [132] On October 1, 2001, Bill Clinton was barred from practicing law before the Supreme Court of the United States (2001) [133]
Legislative Branch- 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. [134]
- 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) [135]
- Austin Murphy (D-PA) convicted of engaging in voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members of a nursing home. [136]
- Newt Gingrich (R-GA), the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was accused of financial improprieties concerning a book deal which led to a reprimand by the House and $300,000 in sanctions [137] leading to his eventual resignation from office. (1997) [138]
- Walter R. Tucker III (D-CA) resigned from the House before conviction on charges of extortion and income tax fraud while he was mayor of Compton, California. Sentenced to 27 months in prison.(1996) [139]
- Nicholas Mavroules (D-MA) pleaded guilty to bribery charges. [140]
- Lawrence J. Smith (D-FL) On August 3, 1993, Congressman Smith pled guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of filing false campaign reports. He was sentenced to three months in prison. [141]
- House banking scandal [142] The House of Representatives Bank found that 450 members had overdrawn their checking accounts, but had 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) [143]
- Buzz Lukens (R-OH) convicted of bribery and conspiracy. [144]
- Carl C. Perkins (D-KY) pled guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank). [144]
- Carroll Hubbard (D-KY)convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress. [145]
- Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) was charged with seven felonies, but pleaded guilty only to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank. [144]
- Walter Fauntroy (D-DC) convicted of filing false disclosure forms in order to hide unauthorized income. [144]
- Jack Russ Sgt. at Arms, convicted of three counts. [144]
- Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995. [147]
- Joe Kolter (D-PA) Convicted of one count of conspiracy [148] and sentenced to 6 months in prison. [149]
- Robert V. Rota Postmaster, convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of embezzlement. [146]
- Jay Kim (R-CA) accepted $250,000 in illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months house arrest (1992) [150]
1989–1993 George H. W. Bush AdministrationExecutive Branch- George H. W. Bush (R) President. during his election campaign, Bush denied any knowledge of the Iran Contra Affair by saying he was "out of the loop." But his own diaries of that time stated "I'm one of the few people that know fully the details ..." He repeatedly refused to disclose this to investigators and won the election. (1988) [151]
- Catalina Vasquez Villalpando, (R) Treasurer of the United States. Pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. The only US Treasurer ever sent to prison. (1992) [152]
- Iran-Contra Affair pardons. On December 24, 1992, George H. W. Bush (R) granted clemency to five convicted government officials and Caspar Weinberger, whose trial had not yet begun. This action prevented any further investigation into the matter. [153]
- Caspar Weinberger Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan [154]
- Robert C. McFarlane National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan [154]
- Elliott Abrams Asssistant Secretary of State to Ronald Reagan [154]
- Clair George CIA Chief of Covert Ops [154]
- Alan D. Fiers Chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force [154]
- Duane Clarridge CIA Operations Officer [154]
Legislative Branch- Albert Bustamante (D-TX) convicted of accepting bribes. [155]
- Lawrence J. Smith (D-FL) pleaded guilty to tax fraud and lying to federal election officials [156] and served three months in jail, fined $5,000, 2 years probation and back taxes of $40,000 [157]
- David Durenberger Senator (R-MN) denounced by Senate for unethical financial transactions and then disbarred (1990). He pled guilty to misuse of public funds and given one year probation (1995) [158]
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