Louisiana Voice

Virtually anyone who calls themselves (I still get uncomfortable using a singular verb with a plural object) informed is at least vaguely aware of five major families in the New York City Mafia: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese families. Of course, that list doesn’t account for the Marcello family of Louisiana, the Trafficante family of Florida, Chicago’s one-time mob leaders Al Capone or George “Bugs” Moran, the Scalish family of Cleveland or any the other lesser-known names scattered around the country.

And yes, organized crime is an ugly scar on the American landscape. So much so that in 1950 and 1951, Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver took his Special Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce on a 14-city show-and-tell road show tour of the country. One of those cities was New Orleans where quite a bit of corruption on the part of local sheriffs, especially in St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes was revealed.

But as deep and Widespread were the tenacles of that form of organized crime, it was – and is – pale in comparison to another brotherhood of organized crime that makes its home base in Washington, D.C.

Three things drive corruption among public officials: money, power and sex. If you have any two of those, the third is easily obtained and our folks in the Beltway have it down to an art form. We have had U.S. representatives and senators and even at least one vice president who used their offices, through their influence and power, as a springboard to illicit wealth or sex – or both. There were and are members of Congress who, while making a career of “public service,” have taken full advantage of their positions to gain from insider trading, prior knowledge of regulatory statutes that affect stock prices, and other means to stay a couple of steps ahead of the stock market, steps that have reaped them millions of dollars. It’s either that or sex that is the ultimate goal.

And that doesn’t even count the contract kickbacks, under-the-table contributions, free vacations for legislators and Supreme Court justices.

If you would like some heavy reading, THIS LINK will take you back to the country’s beginnings and will provide a thorough list and dishonor roll of office holders and bureaucrats who bent the rules until they snapped – all for personal gain, the bulk of it illegal or immoral, or both.

If you’re not inclined to peruse the entire list (and it is longer than an early New Orleans Saints blooper film), I’ve decided to go back only to 2001 provide a few of the lowlights over the past 24 years.

I believe you will agree with me that the so-called Mafia, while not to be trifled with, does not pose nearly the threat of harm to the average American as do the ones we send to Washington to look out for our best interests.

George W. Bush (R: 2001-2009)

Executive Branch:

Scott Bloch – appointed to head Office of Special Counsel, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for having several government computers wiped. Sentenced to one month in prison.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby – Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. Sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. Sentence commuted by President George W. Bush.

Karl Rove – Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush, investigated in connection with a number of cases of improper political influence. Resigned in April 2007.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – resigned rather than to testify under oath about the firing of 11 U.S. attorneys for prosecuting Republicans and not prosecuting Democrats.

Harriet Miers – legal counsel to President Bush, found in contempt of Congress, resigned.

Philip Cooney, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, resigned after being accused of editing government climate reports to emphasize doubts about global warming.

Jack Abramoff – sentenced to four years in prison in connection to bribes of 11 legislators and staff members as part of Abramoff’s lobbying efforts. Served 70 months in prison and was fined $34.7 million.

Randall Tobias, U.S. Director of Foreign Assistance and advocate of abstinence, resigned after it was learned that he was a client of a D.C. prostitution ring

Courtney Stadd, Chief of Staff of NASA and White House Liaison, convicted of ethics violation for giving $9.6 million in NASA funds to one of his clients, Mississippi State University. Sentenced to six months of house arrest and also charged with seeking kickbacks for steering a separate $600,000 NASA remote sensing contract to MSU and then submitting falsified invoices to stop a NASA investigation. He was found guilty and sentenced to 41 months in prison.

Sen. Ted Stevens – wrongfully convicted of bribery and tax evasion after U.S. Department of Justice withheld exculpatory evidence. Later exonerated.

Legislative Branch:

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) – failed to report $75,000 income from the rental of his villa in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Ordered to pay $11,000 in back taxes.

Senatorial candidate James Treffinger (R-NJ) – pleaded guilty to corruption and fraud as Chief Executive of Essex County and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and serve 13 months in jail.

Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) – pled guilty to charges of conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud, and tax evasion after being accused of accepting $2.5 million in bribes (which included a 42-foot yacht and a Rolls-Royce) from contractors doing business with the US government. He was sentenced to over eight years in prison.

US Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) – name popped up in the address book of DC Madam Deborah Palfrey. He admitted his adultery and lost his race for governor. Wife, though, became a federal judge.

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) – had $90,000 in cash in his home freezer seized by the FBI in August 2005. He was re-elected in 2006, 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.

Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH) – found guilty on 10 felony counts of financial corruption. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and expelled from the House. 

Barack Obama (D: 2009-2017)

Executive Branch:

Steven T. Miller – resigned as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service after IRS admitted to investigating groups associated with the Tea Party.

National Labor Relations Board member Terence Flynn resigned after being accused of ethical violations for leaking information to the National Association of Manufacturers.

Martha Johnson resigned as head of the General Services Administration after it was revealed that the agency had spent more than $800,000 on a four-day training conference for 300 GSA employees in Las Vegas.

David Petraeus resigned as director of the CIA after pleading guilty to providing classified documents to his biographer with whom he was having a sexual relationship.

William Mendoza, director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, received a suspended sentence of 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to using his government-issued iPhone to take upskirt photos of women on the D.C. Metro.

Legislative Branch

Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) – resigned after investigation for financial improprieties and using his staff to pressure George officials to continue a vehicle inspection program benefitting his family’s auto business.

Rep. Mark Souder (R- IN) – resigned after the family values and abstinence advocate admitted to an extramarital affair with a female staffer.

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) – sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and resigned after found guilty on 23 charges of racketeering, money laundering and fraud.

Rep. David Wu (D-OR) – resigned four days after a report that a young woman called his office complaining of an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the congressman.

Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) – resigned after soliciting a woman on Craigslist and emailing a shirtless photo of himself.

House Speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) – resigned after it was learned that he used campaign funds for travel, redecorated his office with taxpayer funds to resemble the set of Downton Abbey TV series.

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) – pleaded guilty to one felony count of fraud for using $750,000 of campaign funds to purchase personal items.

Judicial Branch

Alabama Federal Judge Mark Fuller – George W. Bush appointee resigned after being found guilty of domestic violence.

Louisiana Federal Judge Thomas Porteous – Bill Clinton appointee unanimously impeached by U.S. House of Representatives on charges of bribery and perjury. Convicted and removed from office.

Texas Federal Judge Samuel Kent – George H.W. Bush appointee sentenced to 33 months in prison for lying about sexual harassment of two female employees. Resigned after being impeached.

Georgia Federal Judge Jack Camp – George W. Bush appointee arrested while attempting to purchase cocaine from FBI agent. Pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, sentenced to 30 days in jail; 400 hours’ community service and fined.

Donald Trump (R-2017-2021)

Executive Branch

Donald Trump:

• Impeached for trading $400 million in congressionally-approved aid to Ukraine in exchange for damaging information on Joe Biden;
• Impeached for obstruction of Congress;
• Impeached for Incitement of Insurrection under 14h Amendment.
• Found guilty of sexual assault against E. Jean Carroll, penalized $5 million in damages;
• Found guilty of libeling E. Jean Carroll subsequent to first trial and hit with another $83.3 million in damages;
• Found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records concerning payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
• Trump, his company, executives and two eldest sons accused of exaggerating his net worth. He was found guilty of lying and fined $355 million. Court also imposed a three-year ban on Trump’s serving as an officer of director of any New York company.

Republican National Committee Deputy Finance Director Elliott Broidy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy after being accused of failing to reveal that he had received $9 million from the Malaysian government to act as its agent. Pardoned by Trump.

Paul Manafort – Trump campaign manager, charged with 18 counts of tax and bank fraud for keeping $65 million in foreign bank accounts and spending $15 million on himself. Found guilty on eight counts, sentenced to 7 ½ years. Later released to home confinement.

Tom Price – secretary of Health and Human Services forced to resign after spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on private flights.

Ryan Zinke – Secretary of the Interior resigned as result of Justice Department investigation into questionable real estate dealings in Montana.

Alex Acosta – Secretary of Labor resigned after controversy erupted over his role in the dismissal of federal charges against Jeffrey Epstein who had been charged with sex crimes against underage girls.

Rudy Giuliani – Trump legal counsel lost his law license over misleading and false statements about results of the 2020 election.

Sidney Powell – Trump legal counsel. See above re. Rudy Giuliani.

Legislative Branch

Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) – resigned after investigations revealed “inappropriate” relationships with both a male and female subordinate.

Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) – resigned, pleaded guilty to securities fraud, sentenced to 26 months in prison.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) – resigned after accusations of sexual misconduct.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) – convicted on 23 felony counts of perjury, fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to steal money from charitable foundations and individuals who ran them. Sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) – resigned after it was learned he had paid $27,000 settlement to a staffer who had accused him of sexual assault.

Judicial Branch

Federal Appeals Court Judge Alex Kozinski, a Ronald Reagan appointee, retired after allegations of sexual misconduct from several former clerks.

Louisiana Federal Judge Patricia Head Minaldi, appointed by George W. Bush, resigned after DUI arrest.

Joe Biden (R-2021-2025)

Executive Branch

Tyler Joseph “TJ” Ducklo – Deputy Press Secretary, threatened to “destroy” a reporter if she published a story about his extramarital affair. He later apologized and resigned.

Alejandro Mayorkas – Secretary of Homeland Security was impeached in a razor-thin partisan vote of 214-213 but the politically-motivated charges were dismissed.

Eric Lander – Director of the Office of Science and Technology resigned after several accusations by staff members of insulting and embarrassing behavior.

Legislative Branch

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) – found guilty of making false and misleading statements to the FBI about the source of $189,000 in campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. Sentenced to two years’ probation, fined $25,000, and resigned.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) – expelled after refusing to resign for blatant lying, collecting unemployment and misuse of campaign funds. Subsequently pleaded guilty to felony charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

Nancy Marks – treasurer for Santos pleaded guilty to conspiring with congressional candidate to commit wire fraud, make false statements, obstruct Federal Election Commission and aggravated identity theft.

Rep. Van Taylor (R-TX) – married with three children allegedly paid Tania Joya, aka “Isis Bride” for her position as a commander of the Islamic State, $5,000 to keep quiet about affair. News leaked and Taylor withdrew from reelection campaign.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) – accused of variety of misconduct, including insider trading, appearing in a nude video, appearing in women’s lingerie, attempting to bring loaded gun onto an airplane, orgies and sexually aggressive behavior (by several women). Lost next Republican primary.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) – resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by a lobbyist for an incident at a bar.

Rep. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) – sentenced to 11 years after conviction on 16 counts of bribery, fraud and acting as a foreign agent.

Judicial Branch

Alaska Federal Judge Joshua Kindred – resigned after determination he had engaged in misconduct by creating hostile work environment, having an inappropriate sexual relationship and then lying about it.

This is a long list but does not include every miscreant since the beginning of the administration of George W. Bush 24 years ago. This story would be twice as long and if I went all the way back to Nixon, it would be much longer. If I had gone all the way back to Washington (George, that is), this post would rival War and Peace in length.

Why, I didn’t even mention the House banking scandal of 1992, aka Rubbergate (as in rubber bouncing checks) involved more than 450 current and former representatives, including 22 specifically cited for leaving thousands of overdrawn checks unpaid for at least eight months.

Nor did this include the Congressional Post Office scandal of 1991-1995. Despite efforts by Democrats to shut down the investigation, the reports of embezzlement and money laundering, pressure grew for a full-blown investigation and eventually Democrat Dan Rostenkowski was sentenced to 18 months for mail fraud, but pardoned by Bill Clinton just before he left office.

Just remember: this was the short version of the story.

Let’s see La Cosa Nostra try and top that record of greed, larceny and lust.