This article provides a list of political scandals that involve officials from the government of the United States, sorted from oldest to most recent.
This article is organized by presidential terms in order, older to recent, and then divided into scandals of the federal Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. Members of both parties are listed under the term of the president in office at the time the scandal took place, even though they may not be connected with the presiding president.
In this article, the term "politician" (a person who is professionally involved in politics) includes not only those elected, but also party officials, candidates for office, their staffs and appointees. Please note that every president directly selects, appoints or hires several thousand people. Each of them selects thousands more. Private citizens should only be mentioned when they are closely linked to the scandal or politician, such as Jack Abramoff. This list also does not include crimes that occur outside the politician's tenure (such as before or after their term in office) unless they specifically stem from acts made while in office and discovered later.
Scandal is defined as "loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety". Scandals are separate from 'controversies', (which implies two differing points of view) and 'unpopularity'. Many decisions are controversial, many decisions are unpopular, that alone does not make them scandals. Breaking the law is a scandal. The finding of a court is the sole method used to determine a violation of law, but it is not the sole method of determining a scandal. Also included as scandals are politicians who resign, quit, run, or commit suicide while being investigated or threatened with investigation.
Notoriety is a major determinant of a scandal, that is, the amount of press dedicated to it. Misunderstandings, breaches of ethics, unproven crimes or cover-ups may or may not result in inclusion depending on the standing of the accused, the amount of publicity generated, and the seriousness of the crime, if any. Drunk driving may be a conviction, but is usually too minor and too common to mention unless there are multiple convictions and/or jail time.
Given the political nature of Congress in which the leading party has determining power, politicians who are rebuked, denounced, censured, admonished, condemned, suspended, reprimanded, found in contempt, found to have acted improperly, or used poor judgement are not included unless the scandal is exceptional or leads to expulsion or conviction.
John Grosvenor Rowland is an American former politician, author, and radio host who served as the 86th governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004.
Frank Winston Ballance Jr. was an American politician and attorney who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2004, representing North Carolina's 1st congressional district.
Michael Joseph "Ozzie" Myers is an American politician and convicted felon who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980. A member of the Democratic Party, Myers became involved in the Abscam scandal during his tenure in Congress and was expelled from the House after being caught taking bribes in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He spent three years in federal prison. In 2020, he was accused of stuffing ballot boxes in Philadelphia elections during the 2010s, and charged with election fraud. He pleaded guilty in 2022 and was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison.
Operation Boptrot, also referred to as Boptrot, was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corruption among the Kentucky General Assembly, the Commonwealth's legislature. The operation was highly successful, with the investigation culminating in several indictments in 1992, leading to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.
Kevin A. Ring is a former American attorney and congressional staffer; he served Republicans in both the House and the Senate, including U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle (R-CA). He also served as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee.
Samuel B. Kent is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, whose term ended in resignation in 2009 following charges of sexual abuse.
The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen", the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries.
The kids for cash scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, US. In 2008, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at a private prison operated by PA Child Care.
Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818. Illinois had the third most federal criminal convictions for public corruption between 1976 and 2012, behind New York and California. A study published by the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022 ranked Illinois as the second most corrupt state in the nation, with 4 out of the last 11 governors serving time in prison.
The Fat Leonard scandal is an ongoing investigation and prosecution of corruption within the United States Navy during the 2000s and 2010s. It has involved ship support contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a Thai subsidiary of the Glenn Marine Group. The Washington Post called the scandal "perhaps the worst national-security breach of its kind to hit the Navy since the end of the Cold War." The company's chief executive, president, and chairman, Malaysian national Leonard Glenn Francis, bribed a large number of uniformed officers of the United States Seventh Fleet with at least a half million dollars in cash, plus travel expenses, luxury items, parties and prostitutes, in return for classified material. The classified information included the movements of U.S. ships and submarines, confidential contracting information, and details about active law enforcement investigations into Glenn Defense Marine Asia.
The Ninety-First Arkansas General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2017 and 2018. In this General Assembly, the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 23 senators were Republicans, 11 were Democrats, and one position was vacant until April. In the House, 69 representatives were Republicans, 30 were Democrats, and one was independent.
In 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. The investigation into the conspiracy was code named Operation Varsity Blues. The investigation and related charges were made public on March 12, 2019, by United States federal prosecutors. At least 53 people have been charged as part of the conspiracy, a number of whom pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty. Thirty-three parents of college applicants were accused of paying more than $25 million between 2011 and 2018 to William Rick Singer, organizer of the scheme, who used part of the money to fraudulently inflate entrance exam test scores and bribe college officials. Of the 32 parents named in a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, more than half had apparently paid bribes to have their children enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC).
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Martin T. Manton, former United States Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and central figure in a scandal unique in the history of the Federal bench, died today at the home of a son here. He was 66 years old.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The Senate also voted to bar him from ever holding public office in the future... The vote on the first count was unanimous, 96-0. On subsequent counts, the votes were 69–27, 88–8, and 90–6. Impeachment required a vote of two-thirds of the Senate.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Conyers ... reportedly settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 after a former employee accused him of firing her for resisting his 'sexual advances' ... Conyers's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.