It Only Seems That Political Corruption Is Rampant
By MICHAEL WINES, NYT
JAN. 25, 2014
With the indictment last week of the former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell on fraud and conspiracy charges, one might surmise that high-level political scandal is breaking out all over. And in a way, one would be right: It has been a good year, or perhaps a bad one, for hauling politicians before judges.
Three members of the House of Representatives pleaded guilty to, or were convicted of, crimes in 2013, more than any other year since 1981, when the now-cinematized Abscam sting operation put six House members and a senator behind bars. Last year, former mayors of Detroit and New Orleans, among others, were convicted of, or charged with, felonies.
Mr. McDonnell’s indictment continues a string of scandals that has led courts to find eight governors or former governors guilty of crimes since 2000, two from Illinois alone. But if one popular perception of big-time politics is that of a criminal cabal, many who study officeholders for a living disagree — and offer statistics as proof.
Political malfeasance grabs headlines, and few public failings are as colorful as a House legislator who stores $90,000 in marked bills in his basement freezer (William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, convicted of bribery, racketeering and money laundering in 2009) or one who boasts to an F.B.I. undercover agent, “I’ve got larceny in my heart” (John W. Jenrette Jr., Democrat of South Carolina, convicted of accepting bribes in the Abscam sting; Mr. Jenrette was later found guilty of shoplifting shoes and a necktie at a Marshalls department store).
(More here.)
JAN. 25, 2014
With the indictment last week of the former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell on fraud and conspiracy charges, one might surmise that high-level political scandal is breaking out all over. And in a way, one would be right: It has been a good year, or perhaps a bad one, for hauling politicians before judges.
Three members of the House of Representatives pleaded guilty to, or were convicted of, crimes in 2013, more than any other year since 1981, when the now-cinematized Abscam sting operation put six House members and a senator behind bars. Last year, former mayors of Detroit and New Orleans, among others, were convicted of, or charged with, felonies.
Mr. McDonnell’s indictment continues a string of scandals that has led courts to find eight governors or former governors guilty of crimes since 2000, two from Illinois alone. But if one popular perception of big-time politics is that of a criminal cabal, many who study officeholders for a living disagree — and offer statistics as proof.
Political malfeasance grabs headlines, and few public failings are as colorful as a House legislator who stores $90,000 in marked bills in his basement freezer (William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, convicted of bribery, racketeering and money laundering in 2009) or one who boasts to an F.B.I. undercover agent, “I’ve got larceny in my heart” (John W. Jenrette Jr., Democrat of South Carolina, convicted of accepting bribes in the Abscam sting; Mr. Jenrette was later found guilty of shoplifting shoes and a necktie at a Marshalls department store).
(More here.)
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