Section 17: Fill & Download for Free

I’m going to steer clear of the interesting facts that are horrifically obvious or have been done to death in other answers (“Rhode Island is the smallest state,” for example). I’m going for the wack factor here, people. Buckle up.Alabama - full of rocket scientistsHuntsville, Alabama is known as “the rocket capital of the world.” The Marshall Space Flight Center, activated on July 1, 1960, was responsible for the creation of the Jupiter C rocket (which propelled the first U.S. satellite into orbit) and also built the Saturn V rocket (which launched the Apollo 11 spacecraft). Yes, that’s right: Alabama, at one point, was the home of the world’s highest concentration of rocket scientists. And here you thought Alabama was full of nothing but racist hicks, didn’t you?Alaska - a bit warmer than you thoughtThink it doesn’t get that hot in Alaska? A record high of 100 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at Fort Yukon in 1915. (Just in case you were curious, the record low was -80 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in 1971 at Prospect Creek Camp.)Arizona - where the fishing’s fineDespite being one of the most notoriously arid and desert-coated states in the country, Arizona has two native species of trout—one of which, the Apache trout, is found only in Arizona. Unsurprisingly, it’s the official state fish.Arkansas - diamonds in the roughArkansas is a girl’s best friend. The largest and most valuable diamonds ever found in the U.S. were discovered in the state, including the 8.52-carat Esperanza gem discovered in 2015 (pictured above; estimated value $1 million). Arkansas is jam-packed with gems, minerals, ores, and semi-precious stones. The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Pike County allows visitors to search for precious and semi-precious stones, including diamonds, quartz, amethyst, agate, jasper, and garnet.California - an agricultural giantBetter known for the Hollywood film industry and Silicon Valley, California’s real economic powerhouse is its agriculture. More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state, so raise a glass to the Golden State next Thanksgiving. California also produces 300,000 tons of grapes (and 17 million gallons of wine) a year, plus 20% of the nation’s milk and simply staggering amounts of fruit, vegetables, beef, and chicken. Almost all of America’s almonds, figs, apricots, kiwi fruit, olives, dates, nectarines, prunes, pistachios, and walnuts are grown in California—and almost 100% of America’s commercially grown artichokes as well. True story: in 1948, a pretty 22-year-old woman named Norma Jean Baker was crowned California’s first “Artichoke Queen” in Castroville, a few miles north of Monterey (a hotbed of artichoke cultivation). She went on to become actress and bombshell Marilyn Monroe.Colorado - pretty far up thereThey don’t call it “mile-high” for nothing. Not only is Colorado’s largest city, Denver, a mile above sea level, but Colorado also has the highest mean altitude of any state in the country. The highest paved road in North America (14,258 feet at its highest point), the highest auto tunnel in the world (11,000 feet), and the highest incorporated city in the United States (Leadville) are all located in Colorado. Seventy-five percent of all United States soil higher than 10,000 feet is in Colorado. And the views in Colorado, unsurprisingly, are breathtaking. The poet Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write “America the Beautiful” in 1893, after she and some of her coworkers climbed to the 14,000-foot summit of Pike’s Peak (pictured above).Connecticut - birthplace of the hamburgerBeing one of America’s oldest states, Connecticut is a land of firsts. After copper was discovered in Simsbury in 1705, America’s first copper coins were minted in Connecticut in 1737. America’s oldest public library—the Scoville Memorial Library—started up in Salisbury in 1771, after the owner of a local blast furnace solicited contributions from the community and bought 200 books in London to start the collection. America’s first phone book was published in New Haven in 1878 (it only had 50 names in it). The idea for the Polaroid camera was born at a boy’s camp in Connecticut in 1922, with the first camera being sold in 1934. The world’s first practical helicopter, the VS-300, took flight in Stratford in 1939. But those probably aren’t the best and most beloved of Connecticut’s “firsts”—America’s first hamburger was served in New Haven in 1900, at a spot called “Louis’s Lunch.” According to local legend, a customer asked owner Louis Lassen if the “ground steak trimmings” they’d just ordered could be served to go. Lassen slid the ground beef patty between a pair of bread slices, and presto! Burger-ception.Delaware - workin’ on the night shiftReggae legend Bob Marley resided in Delaware from 1965 to 1977, working at the Chrysler plant in Newark and for the Dupont Company, saving up money to move back to Jamaica and start a record company. His song “Night Shift” (one of my favorites by Marley, actually) is rumored to be based on his time there. How apropos that Marley, spokesman for the downtrodden and oppressed, should take up residence in Delaware, a hub of the Underground Railroad. Pennsylvania-born Quaker Thomas Garrett, a close friend and benefactor of Harriet Tubman, was a “stationmaster” for the Underground Railroad in Delaware in the years leading up to the American Civil War. He is thought to have helped over 2,000 escaped slaves reach safety; Garrett’s personal (and very modest) estimate was 2,700. Now that’s workin’ on the night shift.Florida - crocs and gators, gators and crocsEven by American standards, Florida is a weird place. For starters, it’s the only place in the world where both crocodiles and alligators exist side by side (in the Everglades). Another fun Florida fact: Saint Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the continental U.S., having been founded by the Spanish in 1565. (I couldn’t decide which fact was more interesting, so I included them both.)Georgia - Blackbeard’s hideout, maybeNotorious buccaneer Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, terrorized the Caribbean and the southeast coast of British North America in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Legends say he may have had a hideout on Blackbeard Island just off the coast of Georgia, and may even have buried some of his treasure there. Either way, the United States Congress set aside 3,000 acres as the “Blackbeard Island Wilderness Area” in 1975.Hawaii - what isn’t interesting about it?There as many interesting facts about Hawaii as there are grains of sand on its beaches. Let me throw a few at ya:Hawaii is the only U.S. state which grows coffee.There are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet—five vowels and eight consonants.Waialeale Mountain on the island of Kauai is considered the wettest place on earth, with an average rainfall of 488 inches.The only royal palace in the United States, Iolani Palace, is located on Oahu.The biggest contiguous ranch in the United States is located on the Big Island of Hawai’i—the Parker Ranch, at roughly 480,000 acres.The Big Island is home to the world’s most active volcano—Kilauea.The two tallest mountains in the Pacific (Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa) are also located on the Big Island.Idaho - deep canyons, tall waterfallsThought the deepest canyon in the United States was that big one in Arizona? Nope. Hells Canyon in western Idaho is the deepest river gorge in the country at 7,993 feet—about 1,900 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon. Oh, and Shoshone Falls, also on the Snake River (in Twin Falls), is 212 feet high—45 feet higher than Niagara.Illinois - one of the flattest flats that ever flattened a flatIllinois is the second-flattest of the lower 48 states. (The only flatter state is Florida, with all those low-lying coastal plains.) It lies, on average, 600 feet above sea level, except down near the Mississippi River, where it reaches as low as 279 feet above sea level. The highest point in the whole state, Charles Mound, is a mere 1,235 feet above sea level. That’s less than a thousand feet of elevation change in an area of almost 58,000 square miles. Quite a difference from Colorado, eh?Indiana - the popcorn capital of the worldHawaii grows coffee. Georgia grows the “three P’s”—peaches, peanuts, and pecans. California grows…almost everything. Indiana, however, grows corn. Almost half of the state’s farmland is devoted to growing corn. Not surprising, given that Indiana is the home state of Orville Redenbacher, and produces 20% of the United States’ popcorn. In 2014, Indiana farmers planted 91,000 acres of corn just for popcorn.Iowa - rivers, lakes, and mammoth bonesDespite lying almost smack-dab in the middle of the United States, Iowa is the only state whose eastern and western borders are 100% water. It is bounded to the west by the Missouri River and to the east by the Mississippi. Much like Illinois, Iowa is quite flat—mashed into a pancake by the glaciers that marched across North America during the last Ice Age. The Iowa Great Lakes in Dickinson County were scooped out by these glaciers. Not surprisingly, Iowa is saturated with woolly mammoth bones—the big hairy critters once dominated the region.Kansas - they got a lotta breadIn addition to being the state that’s less flat than Iowa only because it’s got a hill or two, Kansas is America’s breadbasket. Almost literally. In 1990, Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 33 billion loaves of bread—enough to give every single human being on Earth six loaves apiece. The Kansan wheat farmers broke their record in 1997, producing enough wheat to make 35.9 billion loaves of bread. Dang, dude. Pass the butter and jam…Kentucky - not just a part of Virginia anymoreBluegrass. The Kentucky Derby. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Mammoth Cave. Fort Knox. The song “Happy Birthday.” Kentucky’s famous for a lot of things, but not many folks know that Kentucky wasn’t even its own state in the beginning. It was originally a county of Virginia. Kentuckians got fed up with having to travel such a long distance to the capital of Richmond, and successfully petitioned to break away and become the 15th state in 1792.Louisiana - where you won’t make the parish lineMaybe this isn’t the most interesting fact about the Bayou State (supposedly it’s where the turducken was invented, popularized by the chef Paul Prudhomme in his New Orleans restaurant K-Paul in the late 1980s). But I’ll throw it out there anyway. Louisiana is the only state in the Union (aside from Alaska) that doesn’t have counties. (Even Hawaii has counties, for Pete’s sake. Alaska has boroughs and census-designated areas.) Louisiana has “parishes” instead.Maine - secluded but beautifulMaine is kind of a lonely place. It’s the only state in the lower 48 that borders just one other state and the only state in the country with a one-syllable name. Mainers speak a completely different language than the rest of the United States. But despite these setbacks, Maine has a lot to offer. Ninety percent of the nation’s toothpick supply is produced in Maine, and they also supply 40% of the nation’s lobster. Jaw-droppingly beautiful Acadia National Park (pictured above, in a photo that won a U.S. Department of the Interior photo contest in 2018) consistently ranks in the top ten most-visited national parks in the country. Oh, and Maine is also home to a rather obscure horror writer named Stephen King.Maryland - home of the U.S. Naval AcademyColorado has the U.S. Air Force Academy, and New York’s got West Point, but Maryland has the U.S. Naval Academy, founded October 10, 1845. (Notable graduates include state governors, ambassadors, cabinet members, Congressmen, Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, and even a U.S. president.) The location of the academy isn’t surprising. Sixteen of Maryland’s 23 counties touch the tidal basin, and Maryland, despite being less than 12,500 miles square, has 4,431 miles of shoreline. Annapolis has been called the sailing capital of the world.Massachusetts - birthplace of basketballAnother New England state with a rich history of “firsts,” Massachusetts can boast of the very first subway system in the United States; the invention of the sport of volleyball (originally called “mintonette”); the namesake of the Fig Newton (Newton, Massachusetts); America’s first planned industrial city (Lowell); America’s first public park (Boston Common, 1634); and the very first game of basketball, played in Springfield in 1891. That may have something to do with why the Basketball Hall of Fame is located in the state.Michigan - land of magicMichigan doesn’t just do cars and rock and roll—the state leads the U.S. in the production of peat, gypsum, and iron ore, and was once home to the world’s largest cement plant, the world’s biggest limestone quarry, and the world’s biggest herd of Holstein cows. But Michigan is known for mass-producing something else, too, something a bit more…whimsical. The city of Colon is the self-proclaimed “Magic Capital of the World.” Every summer the city hosts a four-day magician’s convention, to which amateur and professional magicians flock from across the country. There’s a magic museum, a Magician’s Walk of Fame, and of course, a Magic Capital Cemetery—dozens of famous magicians are buried there. (Or are they?)Minnesota - land o’ lakesJolly Green Giant canned vegetables. Scotch tape. Wheaties. The Bundt pan. Bisquick. Water skiing. The pop-up toaster. Armored cars (and Tonka trucks). The stapler. The Mayo Clinic. Paul Bunyan. The Mall of America—the largest shopping center in America, the size of 78 football fields (9.5 million square feet), with 520 stores, 60 restaurants, and an indoor theme park. Minnesota is famous for a lot of stuff, but it’s most famous for its lakes. Known as “the Land of 10,000 Lakes,” Minnesota actually has 11,842 lakes over ten acres in area. Again—blame those damn glaciers.Mississippi - performing surgical wondersThe first lung transplant and the first heart transplant were both performed in Mississippi, in 1963 and 1964 respectively.Missouri - birthplace of the world's tallest-ever manAside from inventing iced tea and ice cream cones, and falling victim to the deadliest tornado in U.S. history (the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which claimed 695 lives and destroyed 15,000 homes), Missouri is also the birthplace of the tallest man in modern medical history, Robert Pershing Wadlow (8 feet 11.1 inches tall). EDIT: On another Quoran's suggestion, I've amended my answer to say that Wadlow was born in Missouri. He lived most of his life in Illinois.Montana - where the deer, elk, and antelope outnumber the humansNo two ways about it: this state is just plain wild. I’m gonna pull a Hawaii here and throw some more facts at ya:Largest migratory herd of elk in the country.Largest breeding population of trumpeter swans in the lower 48.Most likely more golden eagles than any other state.Largest nesting population of common loons in the western U.S.A moose population of 8,000—not bad, considering moose were thought to be extinct south of the Canadian border in 1900.Largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48.One average square mile of Montana contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope, and 3.3 deer.The Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area may contain as many as 300,000 snow geese and 10,000 tundra swans during a typical migration season.Forty-six of Montana’s fifty-six counties are “frontier counties,” with an average population density of less than six people per square mile.Nebraska - drinkin’ the Kool-AidConnecticut’s got hamburgers, New York has French fries, Missouri has ice cream cones, and Florida has Gatorade…but Nebraska is the birthplace of Kool-Aid. Back in the 1920s, Edwin Perkins of Hastings invented a sweet punch he called “Fruit Smack.” But he needed a way to cut production costs. In 1927, he hit upon the idea of selling it as a powder (in his mother’s kitchen, no less) and the rest is history.Nevada - the last bastion of the world’s oldest professionLet’s skip the obvious stuff—casinos, the mob, nuclear testing, Hoover Dam. Let’s get sexy. Nevada is the only state in the Union where some forms of prostitution are still legal. Prostitution is legal in every county in Nevada except Clark County, wherein lies Las Vegas. (Sorry, tourists.) Even so, it is illegal for “freelance” prostitutes to ply their trade—prostitution is illegal except for that practiced in the state’s 21 licensed brothels, such as the famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Mound House.New Hampshire - pretty dang windy, as it turns outThought Chicago was the Windy City? Think again. The winds and weather around Mount Washington, New Hampshire are notoriously wacky and unpredictable. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory recorded a wind speed of 231 miles per hour—three times faster than a Category 1 hurricane. (Two other quick New Hampshire facts—the state declared its independence from Britain six months before the Declaration of Independence was signed—way to go, guys. The state’s motto, unsurprisingly, is “Live Free or Die.”)New Jersey - a seething mass of humanityNew Jersey is pretty much the polar opposite of Montana. Every single one of the state’s 21 counties contains, in whole or in part, a metropolitan area. Ninety percent of the state’s population lives in one of those metropolitan areas. The state has the highest population density of any U.S. state—over a thousand people per square mile, which is 13 times the national average. New Jersey—thanks to its proximity to New York, probably—also has the densest and most tangled network of railroads and highways in the country. And yes, Jersey Shore fans—NJ has no fewer than 50 seaside resort towns and cities, which get horrifically busy during the season.New Mexico - high and dryDenver may be the “Mile-High City” (a mile, for non-Americans reading this answer, is 5,280 feet, and Denver’s elevation ranges between 5,130 and 5,690 feet). But Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, sits at a staggering 7,000 feet. The state is not only high, but also dry—I read somewhere that New Mexico is so arid that 75% of its roads have been left unpaved. They never wash out.New York - always on the verge of a catastrophic subway floodThe trouble with really old cities it’s that it’s pretty dang difficult to modernize them. In New York City’s case, the subway system had to be built below the sewers and storm drains. Over 750 pumps prevent 1.3 million gallons of water from flooding the New York subway system every. Single. Day. I remember reading Alan Weisman’s amazing book The World Without Us, in which he said that the first thing that would happen if humanity suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth is that the New York City subways would flood, and the streets would collapse.North Carolina - flying, jazz, golf, and missing colonistsWhat do aviation, Andrew Jackson, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, and Thelonious Monk all have in common? They were all born in North Carolina. Oh yeah, and it’s also where Babe Ruth hit his first home run, where Arnold Palmer honed his swing (at Wake Forest University), and where the first English colony in North America was established (at Roanoke Island). Yeah, that colony. The one that mysteriously vanished. Oh yeah, and the state’s motto is “Esse quam videri” (“To be, rather than to seem”). How cool is that?North Dakota - protecting “mom and pop shops”Aside from being home to the geographical center of North America (located in Rugby), North Dakota has also become a symbol of the fight against Big Pharma. By North Dakota law, pharmacies must be owned by local pharmacists. You can scour North Dakota from one end to the other and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Rite-Aid or a Walgreens. The law is intended to protect small business owners from being squeezed out by big chains.Ohio - infrastructure galoreYou might say Ohio had the best interest of its citizens at heart. The city of Cincinnati inaugurated America’s first professional fire department on April 1, 1853. Twelve years later, that same city started up the nation’s first ambulance service. A Dayton shopkeeper invented the cash register in 1879 to keep his customers’ sticky fingers off his profits. The city of Akron was the first to use police cars (or rather, police carriages) in 1899. The city of Cleveland installed the nation’s first traffic light in 1914. Ohio also has a long and loving relationship with rock-’n’-roll and aviation—the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland (and the official state song is “Hang On Sloopy”). Ohio is the birthplace of the Wright Brothers and also Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.Oklahoma - birthplace of the electric guitarWhen you think of the phrase “coolest state in America,” Oklahoma probably doesn’t spring to mind. But did you know that that’s where the electric guitar was invented? By a fellow called Bob Dunn in 1934? Didn’t think so. I don’t think even he knew what he was kicking off. Fun fact: the invention of the electric guitar predates the invention of the parking meter (also invented and implemented in Oklahoma) by a year.Oregon - home of the world’s largest (and most terrifying) organismI could say a lot of things about Oregon—the beautiful coastline, the dormant volcanoes, that really deep lake, the wines, the full-service gas stations—but what I really ought to say is that this state is home to the largest organism on earth. It’s a fungus 2.4 miles wide. It’s called a “honey fungus”—an innocuous and dangerously misleading name, in my opinion—and it’s spread itself out over Oregon’s Blue Mountains. I’m sorry, I don’t trust any living thing more than a mile wide. Kill it with fire.Pennsylvania - home of “The Raven” (yes, that raven)Yet another of those old northeastern states rich in history and “firsts,” Pennsylvania is the home of Hershey’s chocolate; the first daily newspaper (1784); the first zoo (1859); the first baseball stadium (1909); the first automobile service station (1913); and the first computer (1946). But Pennsylvania’s claim to fame may be even more profound than that. If you go to the rare book department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, you’ll see a taxidermied raven. It was once the pet of Charles Dickens. But the stuffed bird most famously inspired a certain melancholy Baltimore poet named Edgar Allan Poe to write a poem called “The Raven.” EDIT: This answer previously said that Pennsylvania was part of New England. I've corrected that error on the suggestion of another Quoran.Rhode Island - founded by a true AmericanYes, Rhode Island is the smallest state—let’s get that out of the way. But it’s so much more than that. The colony of Rhode Island was founded by a man who just might have been the most moral American who ever lived. His name was Roger Williams. He was a Puritan minister, author, and theologian who pretty much laid the foundation for the Bill of Rights. Williams was a staunch advocate for religious freedom, firmly supported the separation of church and state, and wanted the colonies to deal fairly with the Native Americans. He was also one of the first abolitionists, way before it was cool. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both acknowledged Williams as a major influence on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. After being excommunicated by the Puritan leadership for espousing “new and radical ideas,” Williams founded the Providence Plantations in 1636, offering what he called “liberty of conscience.” If that’s not American, I don’t know what is.South Carolina - shakin’ and quakin’California by no means has a monopoly on earthquakes. On August 31, 1886, an earthquake believed to have registered 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked the city of Charleston, killing over a hundred people, leveling the city, and causing $5.5 million in damages—about $136 million in today’s currency.South Dakota - dyin’ place of a Western legendAmong its many claims to fame—the location of Mount Rushmore, birthplace of Tom Brokaw, homeland of the Sioux nation—South Dakota is also famous for being the place where the legendary gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok met his end. ’Twas in Deadwood, in 1876, when jealous gambler Jack McCall shot Hickok in the back of the head at point-blank range while Hickok was playing poker. In Hickok’s hand were aces and eights—known forever after as “the dead man’s hand.” Though Hickok’s star had faded over the years, his folk hero status was such that Jack McCall’s trial was swift and merciless. In 1877, he was convicted of murder, hanged, and buried in an unmarked grave in Yankton.Tennessee - home of the braveTennessee’s history is a martial one. Tennessee earned its nickname (“the Volunteer State”) due to the valor exhibited by Tennessean volunteers who fought under Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans at the close of the War of 1812. Davy Crockett, the famous American frontiersman, soldier, folk hero, and politician, was born in Tennessee and went on to die a glorious death at the Alamo in 1836 during the Texas Revolution. Tennesee sent more soldiers to fight in the American Civil War than any other state—120,000 to the Confederacy and 31,000 to the Union. Alvin C. York, born in Pall Mall, became one of the most decorated soldiers of World War I. More than 3,600 Tennessee National Guardsmen participated in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Aside from its indisputable martial prowess, Tennessee is also famous for whiskey (Jack Daniels, anyone?) and music—it’s the birthplace of country music (and Dolly Parton), the location of Elvis Presley’s home of Graceland, and the home of the Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running live radio program in the world. It’s been going nonstop since 1925.Texas - a pretty damn big placeI’m afraid I’m going to have to go with the most obvious interesting fact about Texas, guys. Texas is big. Like, mega-big. The state’s King Ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The city of El Paso is closer to Needles, California (two states away) than it is to Dallas. The state is home to the country’s largest population of whitetail deer and is estimated to be home to 16 million head of cattle. Texas makes up 7.4% of the United States’ total area all by itself. Texas’s largest county (Brewster) is 6,208 square miles—larger than the state of Connecticut (and the nation of Montenegro). Texas itself is 268,597 square miles, which would make it the 40th largest country if it was a country by itself—slightly larger than Burma, and slightly smaller than Morocco.Utah - addicted to gelatinThe state seems to be a little bit obsessed with Jell-O. Salt Lake City has the highest per-capita consumption of the gelatinous stuff in the entire world.Vermont - milk and maple syrupVermont seems to be a bit…removed from the rest of American culture. A mere 22% of Vermonters attend church regularly. The state capital, Montpelier, doesn’t have a McDonalds. Like, anywhere. And until 1996, there were no Walmarts in the state either. (Vermont, much like North Dakota, tends to favor local businesses over nationwide chains.) Vermont has the highest proportion of dairy cows to people—its 1,000 dairy farms and 135,000 cows produce 2.3 billion pounds of milk per annum. Vermont also produces more maple syrup than any other state. (And they’re pretty snobby about it, too.)Virginia - steeped in historyNo discussion of American history is complete without Virginia. It was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America (Jamestown—sorry you disappeared there, Roanoke). It was the location of the first Thanksgiving. The birthplace of eight U.S. presidents (and six president’s wives). The site of the British surrender during the Revolutionary War (Yorktown). The location of numerous battles of the American Civil War, and the location of the Confederate capital (Richmond). The home base of the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic fleet (Norfolk). Rumor has it that 50% of the people in the United States live within a 500-mile radius of Richmond, Virginia…in which case the Old Dominion would be the “center” of the United States, even more so than Rugby, North Dakota.Washington - home of the world’s biggest buildingWhile Washington State is famous for a number of things—being the only state named after a U.S. president, growing fantastic apples, having more glaciers than the other lower 48 states combined, being the birthplace of both Jimi Hendrix and Bing Crosby—Washington is probably best known for being the headquarters of some of America’s wealthiest and most well-known corporations, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing. It’s also home to the largest building in the world—the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, which is a staggering 4,280,000 square feet in area and 472 million cubic feet in volume.West Virginia - birthplace of the ballsiest test pilot in historyYet another piece of the state of Virginia that broke away, West Virginia split away from its mother state in 1861, after Virginia voted to secede from the Union. Only 17 of the 49 delegates from the northwestern corner of the state were in favor of secession, so a convention was held in Wheeling and the notion of becoming an independent state was floated. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation formally admitting West Virginia to the Union, making WV the only state to be admitted to the Union via presidential proclamation. The state is probably most famous for two things: producing 15% of America’s coal and producing Chuck Yeager, the heroic WWII triple ace and test pilot who broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 in 1947.Wisconsin - milk, cheese, cranberries, and…ginseng?Wisconsin sees Vermont’s 1,000 dairy farms and raises ’em 9,920. Wisconsin’s cows produce 25.4% of the country’s cheese and 13.5% of its milk. Wisconsin’s abundance of arable land allows it to grow 60% of the nation’s cranberries and 97% of its ginseng. Wisconsin also grows plenty of green peas, snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, cherries, apples, and corn. The city of Milwaukee was once home to four of the world’s biggest producers of beer: Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller. Only Miller remains, but Wisconsin’s craft brew scene is thriving. Wisconsin is also the birthplace of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, entertainer Chris Farley, actor and producer Orson Welles, author Laura Ingalls Wilder, painter Georgia O’Keeffe, circus impresarios Charles and John Ringling, and pianist Liberace.WyomingUniversal suffrage! Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote, in 1869–51 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified.And there you have it, Quora. Fifty exhaustively researched (heh) facts about the American states. Hope you enjoyed it. My information may be out of date, so please suggest any corrections in the comments section. And thanks for reading.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, here's a list cribbed from Wikipedia. It certainly treads lightly on our representatives--the list is almost certainly far longer. A person could get oh, what's the word, disenchanted? Disillusioned?Since one of my graduate degrees in in American studies, and I've read more American history than anyone I know except my daughter, but that's because I'm older than she is, I hate to call your question laughable, but it is certain naive. Let's face it, not everyone has a taste for knowing how screwed they're getting.Even some of the legislators who have accomplished a lot of good haven't been exempt from bribes and use of coercion. It's almost a given. What do you think they're called politicians for?They couldn't make up plots for TV for the kinds of bizarrely grabby, entitled and corrupt practices that have been in place in Congress nearly since its beginning.Historians (not me) widely considering the congresses under the following administrations to be THE most corrupt:Bush IIReaganNixonLyndon JohnsonWarren G. HardingUlysses S. GrantAndrew JacksonList of federal political scandals in the United StatesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States#mw-This article provides a list of federal political scandals of the United States, sorted from most recent date to least recent.ContentScope and organization of political scandals[edit]The article is organized by presidential terms and then divided into scandals of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches. Members of both parties are listed under the term of the president in office at the time the scandal took place.Scandals; There is no hard and fast rule defining scandals. Scandal is defined as "loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety." In politics scandal should be kept separate from 'controversy,' (which implies two differing points of view) and 'unpopularity.' Many decisions are controversial, many decisions are unpopular—that alone does not make them scandals.A good rule of thumb is whether or not an action is, or appears to be, illegal. Since everyone, particularly a politician, is expected to be a law abiding citizen, breaking the law is, by definition, a scandal. Misunderstandings, breaches of ethics, unproven crimes or cover-ups may or may not result in scandals depending on who is bringing the charges, the amount of publicity garnered, and the seriousness of the crime, if any. The finding of a court with jurisdiction is the sole method used to determine a violation of law.There is no hard line to distinguish major scandals from minor scandals, but rather scandals tend to be defined by the public itself and the media's desire to feed that particular frenzy. Thus, small but salacious scandals, such as Larry Craig's (Republican from Idaho) arrest for lewd behavior can eclipse more serious scandals such as suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus in time of war.What is also not so clear, is how far down the ladder of obscurity a scandal should go. During the Truman (D) administration, 196 local IRS staffers were found to be corrupt, but they were so far removed from Washington, Truman or any of his appointees, that it could hardly be called a 'Truman scandal.'Also not included in this article are pervasive systemic scandals, such as the role of money in normal politics, which purchases access and influence. Neither are 'revolving door' stories, which is the practice of hiring government officials to promote or lobby for companies they were recently paid to regulate. Though some rules now apply, to a great extent this is legal in the United States.Politicians are those who make their living primarily in politics, their staffs and appointees. By definition, political scandals should involve politicians and not private citizens. Private citizens should be included only when they are closely linked to elected or appointed politicians such as party officials. Kenneth Lay of Enron is a good example of such a citizen. This list also does not include crimes that occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office.To keep the article a manageable size, Senators and Congressmen who are rebuked, admonished, condemned, suspended, found in contempt, found to have acted improperly, used poor judgement or were reprimanded by Congress are not included unless the scandal is exceptional or leads to expulsion.At the bottom of the article are links to related articles which deal with politicians who are actually convicted of crimes, as well as differentiating between federal, state and local scandals and two separate articles are devoted to sex crimes and scandals.Federal government scandals[edit]2009–present Barack Obama Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014 - It was discovered that officials in the Phoenix VA hospital lied about how long the wait times were for veterans to see a doctor.[1] An investigation of delays is being conducted by the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.[2][3] The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, General Eric Shinseki, voluntarily resigned.[4]ATF gunwalking scandal – Attorney General Eric Holder was held in Contempt of Congress after refusing to release all documents which the House of Representatives had demanded concerning the Fast and Furious gun walking operation. (2012)[5]Terence Flynn, an appointee of Barack Obama to the National Labor Relations Board, resigned in May 2012 after being accused of serious ethical violations by leaking information to the National Association of Manufacturers.[6]Martha N. Johnson, head of the General Services Administration, fired two top GSA officials and then resigned herself after it was revealed that $822,000 had been spent in Las Vegas on a four-day training conference for 300 GSA employees. (2010)[7][8][9][10]IRS admitted to inappropriate investigation of conservative political groups associated with the Tea Party.[11] Later, it was found that the IRS investigated liberal and progressive groups as well and that initial stories of conservative groups receiving special scrutiny were false.[12][13][14] President Obama labeled the IRS's actions "inexcusable" and Attorney General Eric Holder, an Obama appointee, launched an investigation into the scandal.[15][16] The president demanded and accepted the resignation of Steven T. Miller Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Other actions arising from the scandal included:Joseph H. Grant, commissioner of the IRS Tax-exempt and Government entities division, resigned on May 16.[17]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.[18] She retired after an internal investigation found that she neglected her duties and was going to call for her ouster.[19]Katherine Archuleta, who was the director of the Office of Personnel Management, was forced to resign on July 10, 2015 after the data theft of information on 22 million people who had applied for security clearances.[20]Legislative[edit]Dennis Hastert (R-IL) pled not guilty to charges that he violated banking rules and lied to the FBI in a scheme to pay $3.5 million in hush money to conceal sexual misconduct with an under age boy from his days as a high school wrestling coach, from 1965 to 1981.(2015)[21][22]Aaron Schock (R-IL) resigned from office after evidence surfaced that he used campaign funds for travel, redecorated his office with taxpayer funds to resemble the sets of the Downton Abbey TV series, and otherwise spent campaign and/or taxpayer money on other questionable personal uses.(2015)[23]Schock's senior adviser Benjamin Cole had resigned earlier after he allegedly condemned "hood rats" and "black miscreants" in internet posts. Schock's office stated, "I am extremely disappointed by the inexcusable and offensive online comments made by a member of my staff."[24]Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) resigned his Congressional seat. Four of his staff were convicted by the state of Michigan of falsifying signatures on McCotter's reelection petitions for the 2012 elections. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) blamed McCotter for running a slipshod, leaderless operation. "The congressman has resigned in disgrace", Schuette said, though McCotter was not charged.[25]Paul Seewald worked for McCotter as his District Director of the Michigan's 11th congressional district. He pled guilty to nine counts of falsely signing a nominating petition as circulator. He was sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, and ordered to pay court costs and fees.[26]Don Yowchuang worked for McCotter as Deputy District Director of the Michigan 11th Congressional District. He pleaded guilty to ten counts of forgery and six counts of falsely signing a nominating petition and was sentenced to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service, court costs and fees.[27]Mary M. Turnbull was McCotter's Representative to the Michigan 11th Congressional District. She was convicted of conspiring to commit a legal act in an illegal manner and falsely signing a nominating petition. She was sentenced to two years of probation, a day in jail, and 200 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay a $1,440 fine. In addition, she is forbidden from any participation in elections or the political process.[28]Lorianne O'Brady worked as a scheduler for McCotter in the Michigan 11th Congressional District. She pleaded no contest to charges that she falsely claimed to have legally collected signatures to get McCotter on the ballot when she actually had not. She was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a work program plus $2,625 in fines and court costs.[29]Senator Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) campaign manager Jesse Benton (R) resigned when details of a bribery scandal from Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign came to light. (2014).[30]David Rivera (R-FL) was indicted as a co-conspirator with Campaign Manager Ana Alliegro who pleaded guilty to violation of US campaign laws in an $81,000 campaign-finance scheme to prop up a little-known Democratic candidate who used the illegal cash to trash Rivera's rival in the 2012 Democratic primary.[31][32]Rick Renzi (R-AZ) on June 12, 2013, was found guilty of 17 counts against him, which included wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion, racketeering, money laundering, and making false statements to insurance regulators.[33]Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) was arrested on December 23, 2012, and later pleaded guilty to drinking and driving in a Virginia court. The court fined him 250 dollars. He was sentenced to 180 days in prison, but served no time.[34][35][36]Trey Radel (R-FL) was arrested on October 29, 2013, in Washington, D.C. for possession of cocaine after purchasing the drug from an undercover law enforcement officer. As a first-time offender, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor in a Washington, D.C. court, and was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250. Radel took a leave of absence from office to undergo substance abuse treatment following his conviction. Following treatment, he initially returned to office with the intent of finishing his term, but eventually resigned on January 27, 2014.[37][38][39]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.[40]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)[41][42]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)[43][44][45][46](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.[47]Michael Grimm (R-NY) has been indicted for campaign finance violations. He has not been proven guilty.[48]Judicial Branch[edit]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)[49][50]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)[51][52]Jack T. Camp Senior Federal U.S. District Court Judge was appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan and again byGeorge W. Bush, was arrested in an undercover drug bust while trying to purchase cocaine from an FBI agent. Judge Camp resigned after pleading guilty to three criminal charges. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 400 community service hours and fined.[53][54][55]2001–2009 George W. Bush Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Joseph E. Schmitz (R) was nominated by President George W. Bush (R) to be Defense Department Inspector Generalon June 18, 2001. He resigned on September 9, 2005 in the wake of several allegations by Senator Charles Grassley(R-Iowa) including that he had obstructed the FBI investigation of John A. Shaw.[56][57][58][59][60]Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey (R) abruptly resigned over substandard conditions for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center including long delays in treatment, rodent infestation and outbreaks of mold. Harvey had been appointed to the position by George W. Bush.(2007)[61]Maj. Gen. George Weightman, was fired for failures linked to the scandal.(2007) [62]Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley resigned for failures linked to the scandal.[63]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.[64] He was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing almost $600,000 for personal use.[65]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)[66]Scott Bloch was appointed by President George W. Bush to head the United States 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 ...."[67]On February 2, Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson ruled that Bloch faces a mandatory sentence of at least one month in prison.[68][69]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 on July 1, 2007. The felony remains on Libby's record, though the jail time and fine were commuted.[70][71]Alphonso Jackson The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development resigned while under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged cronyism and favoritism [72]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)[73]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.[74]Howard Krongard, Republican contributor[75] was appointed Inspector General of the US State Department by President George W. Bush in 2005.[76] 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.[77][78]"Lawyergate"[79] 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.[80][81] When Congressional hearings were called, a number of seniorJustice Department officials cited executive privilege and refused to testify under oath and instead resigned, including:Alberto Gonzales Attorney General of the United States[82]Karl Rove Advisor to President Bush[83]Harriet Miers Legal Counsel to President Bush, was found in Contempt of Congress[84]Michael A. Battle Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys in the Justice Department.[85]Bradley Schlozman Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys who replaced Battle[86]Michael Elston Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty[87]Paul McNulty Deputy Attorney General to William Mercer[88]William W. Mercer Associate Attorney General to Alberto Gonzales[89]Kyle Sampson Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales[85]Monica Goodling Liaison between President Bush and the Justice Department[90]Joshua Bolten Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush was found in Contempt of Congress[84]Sara M. Taylor Aide to Presidential Advisor Karl Rove[91]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.[92] As many as 5 million e-mails requested by Congressional investigators were therefore unavailable, lost, or deleted.[93]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.[94] Among other things she asked GSA employees how they could "help Republican candidates".[95]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)[96]Darleen A. Druyun was Principal Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force nominated by George W. Bush.[97] 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.[98] CBS News called it "the biggest Pentagon scandal in 20 years" and said that she pleaded guilty to a felony.[99]Philip Cooney Bush appointee to chair the Council on Environmental Quality was accused of editing government climate reports to emphasize doubts about global warming.[100] Two days later, Cooney announced his resignation[101] and later conceded his role in altering reports. Stating "My sole loyalty was to the President and advancing the policies of his administration," .[102][103]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.[104][105] See Legislative scandals.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.[106] 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.[107]David Safavian GSA (General Services Administration) Chief of Staff,[108] found guilty of blocking justice and lying,[109] and sentenced to 18 months[110]Roger Stillwell Staff in the Department of the Interior under President George W. Bush (R). Pleaded guilty and received two years suspended sentence.[111]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.[112]J. Steven Griles former Deputy to the Secretary of the Interior pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 10 months.[113]Italia Federici staff to the Secretary of the 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.[114][115][116]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.[117]Mark Zachares staff in the Department of Labor, bribed by Abramoff, guilty of conspiracy to defraud.[105]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)[118]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.[119]Julie MacDonald Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, resigned May 1, 2007, after giving government documents to developers (2007)[120]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.[121]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)[122]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)[123]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.[124][125]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.[126] It was revealed that $12 billion in cash had been delivered to Iraq by C-130 planes, on shrinkwrapped pallets of US $100 bills.[127] 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.[128][129]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)[130]John A. Shaw (R) was appointed by George W. Bush as Under Secretary of Defense [131] He was investigated on corruption although charges were never filed against him, he was asked to resign in 2004.[132] When he refused to resign, he was fired by the Bush administration on December 10, 2004.[133][134][135]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.[136]Plame affair (2004), in which CIA agent Valerie Plame's name was 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.[137] Armitage admitted he was the leak[138] 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)[139] 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)[140] In 2010, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled this practice to be illegal.[141]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.[142][143][144][144][145][146]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,[147] wrote memos stating the right of the president to –suspend sections of the ABM Treaty without informing Congress[148]bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allowing warrantless wiretapping of US Citizens within the United States by the National Security Agency.[148]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[148]allow Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (torture) because provisions of the War Crimes Act, the Third Geneva Convention, and the Torture convention do not apply.[148]Many of his memos have since been repudiated and reversed.[148][149] Later review by the Justice Department reported that Yoo and Jay Bybee used "poor judgement" in the memos, but no charges were filed.[150]Carl Truscott Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms appointed in 2004 but was soon under investigation for his management style and allegations of lavish spending and misuse of resources, including requiring a large number of agents as personal security, allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars of expensive upgrades to the ATF HQ building, adding a new garage to his house, detailing 20 agents to help with his nephew's high school project and other examples of poor financial judgment. Truscott resigned as the ATF Director on August 4, 2006.[151][152]Legislative Branch[edit]James W. Treffinger (R-NJ) the US senatorial candidate pled guilty in 2003 to corruption and fraud as Chief Executive of Essex County and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and serve 13 months in jail.[153]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.[154]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)[155]Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Announced he would not seek another term.[156]* He was later sentenced to three years in prison after conviction on federal corruption charges of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering related to a 2005 money-laundering scheme that netted the Flagstaff Republican more than $700,000. (2005) [157]Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned on September 29, 2006 after sending sexually explicit messages to former Congressional pages.[158]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.[159]Tom DeLay (R-TX) and House Majority Leader served from 1985 to 2006 when he resigned his position to undergo trial for conspiring to launder corporate money into political donations and money laundering during the 2002 elections. On November 24, 2010, DeLay was found guilty[160] and was sentenced to three years in prison and 10 years' probation respectively.[161] On September 19, 2013, the conviction was overturned.[162]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.[163] 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.[106] 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.[107]Michael Scanlon (R) former staff to Tom DeLay: working for Abramoff, pled guilty to bribery.[104][105]Tony Rudy (R) former staff to Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy.[105]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.[164]John Colyandro executive director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority(TRMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money laundering[164]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.[105][165]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.[166]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.[167]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)[168]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)[169]Kevin A. Ring (R) former staff to John Doolittle (R-CA) was convicted of five charges of corruption.[170][171]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.[172]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.[173]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)[174]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)[175]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.[176][177]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)[178]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)[179]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)[180]1993–2001 Bill Clinton Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]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.[181]Bill Clinton President (D) Impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath about consensual sexual relations with a member of his staff Monica Lewinsky. Clinton wasacquitted 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).[182] On October 1, 2001, Bill Clinton was barred from practicing law before the Supreme Court of the United States (2001)[183]Legislative Branch[edit]Newt Gingrich (R-GA), the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was charged $300,000 in sanctions by the majority republican House ethics committee for an unethical book deal [184] leading to his eventual resignation from office. (1997)[185]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.[186]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)[187]Austin Murphy (D-PA) convicted of engaging in voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members of a nursing home.[188]Nicholas Mavroules (D-MA) pleaded guilty to bribery charges.[189]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.[190]House banking scandal[191] 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)[192]Buzz Lukens (R-OH) convicted of bribery and conspiracy.[193]Carl C. Perkins (D-KY) pled guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank).[193]Carroll Hubbard (D-KY)convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress.[194]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.[193]Walter Fauntroy (D-DC) convicted of filing false disclosure forms in order to hide unauthorized income.[193]Jack Russ House Sergeant-at-Arms, convicted of three counts.[193]Congressional Post Office scandal (1991–1995) A conspiracy to embezzle House Post Office money through stamps and postal vouchers to congressmen.[195]Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.[196]Joe Kolter (D-PA) Convicted of one count of conspiracy[197] and sentenced to 6 months in prison.[198]Robert V. Rota Postmaster, convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of embezzlement.[195]Jay Kim (R-CA) accepted $250,000 in illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months house arrest (1992)[199]1989–1993 George H. W. Bush Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]George H. W. Bush (R) President. during his election campaign, Bush denied any knowledge of the Iran Contra Affairby 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 during the investigation and thus won the election. (1988)[200]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)[201]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.[202]Caspar Weinberger Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan[203]Robert C. McFarlane National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan[203]Elliott Abrams Assistant Secretary of State to Ronald Reagan[203]Clair George CIA Chief of Covert Ops[203]Alan D. Fiers Chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force[203]Duane Clarridge CIA Operations Officer[203]Legislative Branch[edit]Albert Bustamante (D-TX) convicted of accepting bribes.[204]Lawrence J. Smith (D-FL) pleaded guilty to tax fraud and lying to federal election officials[205] and served three months in jail, fined $5,000, 2 years probation and back taxes of $40,000[206]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)[207]Judicial Branch[edit]Clarence Thomas (R) The Supreme Court nominee was accused of sexual harassment by former employee Anita Hill, but was approved anyway.[208]Walter Nixon US Judge. Was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate for perjury on November 3, 1989.[209]1981–1989 Ronald Reagan Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Housing and Urban Development Scandal A scandal concerning bribery by selected contractors for low income housing projects.Samuel Pierce Secretary of Housing and Urban Development because he made "full and public written acceptance of responsibility" was not charged.[210]James G. Watt Secretary of Interior, 1981–1983, charged with 25 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, sentenced to five years probation, fined $5,000 and 500 hours of community service[211]Deborah Gore Dean (R) Executive Assistant to (Samuel Pierce, Secretary of HUD 1981–1987, and not charged). Dean was convicted of 12 counts of perjury, conspiracy, bribery. Sentenced to 21 months in prison. (1987)[212]Phillip D. Winn Assistant Secretary of HUD, 1981–1982, pled guilty to bribery in 1994.[212]Thomas Demery, Assistant Secretary of HUD, pled guilty to bribery and obstruction.[212]Joseph A. Strauss, Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, convicted of accepting payments to favor Puerto Rican land developers in receiving HUD funding.[213]Silvio D. DeBartolomeis convicted of perjury and bribery.[214]Wedtech scandal Wedtech Corporation convicted of bribery for Defense Department contractsEdwin Meese Attorney General, resigned but never convicted.[215]Lyn Nofziger White House Press Secretary, whose conviction of lobbying was overturned.[216]Mario Biaggi (D-NY) sentenced to 2½ years.[217]Robert García (D-NY) sentenced to 2½ years.[218]Savings and loan scandal in which 747 institutions failed and had to be rescued with $160,000,000,000 of taxpayer monies in connection with the Keating Five. see Legislative scandals.[219]Emanuel S. Savas, appointed by Ronald Reagan to be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, resigned July 8, 1983 after an internal Justice Department investigation found he had abused his office by having his Government staff work on his private book on Government time.[220][221]Iran-Contra Affair (1985–1986); A plan conceived by CIA head William Casey and Oliver North of the National Security Council to sell TOW missiles to Iran for the return of US hostages and then use part of the money received to fund Contra rebels trying to overthrow the left wing government of Nicaragua, which was in direct violation of Congress'Boland Amendment.[222] Ronald Reagan appeared on TV stating there was no "arms for hostages" deal, but was later forced to admit, also on TV, that yes, there indeed had been:Caspar Weinberger Secretary of Defense, was indicted on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice on June 16, 1992.[223] Weinberger received a pardon from George H. W. Bush on December 24, 1992, before he was tried.[224]William Casey Head of the CIA. Thought to have conceived the plan, was stricken ill hours before he would testify. Reporter Bob Woodward records that Casey knew of and approved the plan.[225]Robert C. McFarlane National Security Adviser, convicted of withholding evidence, but after a plea bargain was given only 2 years probation. Later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush[226]Elliott Abrams Asst Sec of State, convicted of withholding evidence, but after a plea bargain was given only 2 years probation. Later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush[227]Summary of Prosecutions.Alan D. Fiers Chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force, convicted of withholding evidence and sentenced to one year probation. Later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush[222]Clair George Chief of Covert Ops-CIA, convicted on 2 charges of perjury, but pardoned by President George H. W. Bush before sentencing.[228]Oliver North convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity, obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents, but the ruling was overturned since he had been granted immunity.[229]Fawn Hall, Oliver North's secretary was given immunity from prosecution on charges of conspiracy and destroying documents in exchange for her testimony.[230]John Poindexter National Security Advisor (R) convicted of 5 counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence. The Supreme Court overturned this ruling.[231]Duane Clarridge An ex-CIA senior official, he was indicted in November 1991 on 7 counts of perjury and false statements relating to a November 1985 shipment to Iran. Pardoned before trial by President George H. W. Bush.[232][233]Richard V. Secord Ex-major general in the Air Force who organized the Iran arms sales and Contra aid. He pleaded guilty in November 1989 to making false statements to Congress. Sentenced to two years of probation.[234][235]Albert Hakim A businessman, pled guilty in November 1989 to supplementing the salary of Oliver North by buying him a $13,800 fence. Hakim was given two years of probation and a $5,000 fine, while his company, Lake Resources Inc. was ordered to dissolve.[234][236]Thomas G. Clines Once an intelligence official who became an arms dealer, he was convicted in September 1990 on four income tax counts, including underreporting of income to the IRS and lying about not having foreign accounts. Sentenced to 16 months of prison and fined $40,000.[234][237]Carl R. Channell A fund-raiser for conservative causes, he pleaded guilty in April 1987 to defrauding the IRS via a tax-exempt organization to fund the Contras.[238] Sentenced to two years probation.[234]Richard R. Miller Associate to Carl R. Channell, he pleaded guilty in May 1987 to defrauding the IRS via a tax-exempt organization led by Channell. More precisely, he pled guilty to lying to the IRS about the deductibility of donations to the organization. Some of the donations were used to fund the Contras.[239] Sentenced to two years of probation and 120 of community service.[234]Joseph F. Fernandez CIA Station Chief of Costa Rica. Indicted on five counts in 1988.[240] The case was dismissed when Attorney General Dick Thornburgh refused to declassify information needed for his defense in 1990.[241]Inslaw Affair (1985–1994+); a protracted legal case that alleged that top-level officials of President Ronald Reagan's (R) Department of Justice were involved in software piracy of the Promis program from Inslaw Inc. forcing it into bankruptcy.[242] Attorney General Edwin Meese (R) and his successor Attorney General Dick Thornburgh (R) were both found to have blocked the investigation of the matter.[243] They were succeeded by Attorney General William P. Barr (R), who also refused to investigate and no charges were ever filed.[242]D. Lowell Jensen, Deputy Attorney General was held in Contempt of Congress.[244]C. Madison Brewer A high ranking Justice Department official was held in Contempt of Congress.[244]Michael Deaver Deputy Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan 1981–85, pleaded guilty to perjury related to lobbying activities and was sentenced to 3 years probation and fined $100,000[245]Sewergate A scandal in which funds from the EPA were selectively used for projects which would aid politicians friendly to the Reagan administration.Anne Gorsuch Burford Head of the EPA. Cut the EPA staff by 22% and refused to turn over documents to Congress citing "Executive Privilege",[246] whereupon she was found in Contempt and resigned with twenty of her top employees.(1980)[247]Rita Lavelle An EPA Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency misused "superfund" monies and was convicted of perjury. She served six months in prison, was fined $10,000 and given five years probation.[248]Melvyn R. Paisley, appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by Ronald Reagan. As part of the long-runningOperation Ill Wind defense procurement investigation, Paisley was to four years in prison without parole.[249]Louis O. Giuffrida (R) director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was appointed in April 1981 by Ronald Reagan and resigned his position on September 1, 1985. His announcement came a day before a Congressional subcommittee wad to approve a report detailing waste, fraud, and abuse at his agency.[250]J. Lynn Helms was appointed head of the Federal Aviation Administration by Ronald Reagan in April 1981. He was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with diverting $1.2 million from an issue of tax-exempt municipal bonds to his own personal use. Mr. Helms signed an order that settled the case before trial, though he resigned his FAA post.[251][252]Legislative Branch[edit]David Durenberger Senator (R-MN), denounced by the Senate for unethical financial transactions (1990) and then disbarred as an attorney.[253] In 1995 he pled guilty to 5 misdemeanor counts of misuse of public funds and was given one years probation.[254]Jesse Helms Senator (R-NC), His campaign was found guilty of "voter caging" when 125,000 postcards were sent to mainly black neighborhoods and the results used to challenge their residency and therefore their right to vote. (1990)[255]Barney Frank Congressman (D-MA), lived with convicted felon Steve Gobie who ran a gay prostitution operation from Frank's apartment without his knowledge. Frank was Admonished by Congress for using his congressional privilege to eliminate 33 parking tickets attributed to Gobie.(1987)[256]Donald E. "Buz" Lukens (R-OH), Convicted of two counts of bribery and conspiracy. (1996)[257] See also Sex scandals.Anthony Lee Coelho (D-CA) Resigned rather than face inquiries from both the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee about an allegedly unethical "junk bond" deal, which netted him $6,000. He was never charged with any crime (1989)[258]Jim Wright (D-TX) House Speaker, resigned after an ethics investigation led by Newt Gingrich alleged improper receipt of $145,000 in gifts (1989)[259]Keating Five (1980–1989) The failure of Lincoln Savings and Loan led to Charles Keating donating to the campaigns of five Senators for help. Keating served 42 months in prison.[260] The five were investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee which found that:Alan Cranston Senator (D-CA) reprimanded[261]Dennis DeConcini Senator (D-AZ) acted improperly[262]Don Riegle Senator (D-MI) acted improperly[262]John Glenn Senator (D-OH) used poor judgment[262]John McCain Senator (R-AZ) used poor judgment[262]Abscam FBI sting involving fake 'Arabs' trying to bribe 31 congressmen.(1980)[263] The following six Congressmen were convicted:Harrison A. Williams Senator (D-NJ) Convicted on 9 counts of bribery and conspiracy. Sentenced to 3 years in prison.[264]John Jenrette Representative (D-SC) sentenced to two years in prison for bribery and conspiracy.[265]Richard Kelly (R-FL) Accepted $25K and then claimed he was conducting his own investigation into corruption. Served 13 months.[266]Raymond Lederer (D-PA) "I can give you me" he said after accepting $50K. Sentenced to 3 years.[267]Michael Myers (D-PA) Accepted $50K saying, "...money talks and bullshit walks." Sentenced to 3 years and was expelled from the House.[268]Frank Thompson (D-NJ) Sentenced to 3 years.[269]John M. Murphy (D-NY) Served 20 months of a 3-year sentence.[270]Also arrested were NJ State Senator Angelo Errichetti (D)[271] and members of the Philadelphia City Council. See Local scandals.Mario Biaggi (D-NY), Convicted of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gratuities he was sentenced to 2½ years in prison and fined $500K for his role in the Wedtech scandal, see above. Just before expulsion from the House, he resigned. The next year he was convicted of another 15 counts of obstruction and bribery. (1988)[272]Pat Swindall (R-GA) convicted of 6 counts of perjury. (1989)[273][274]George V. Hansen (R-ID) censured for failing to file out disclosure forms. Spent 15 months in prison.[275]James Traficant (D-OH), convicted of ten felony counts including bribery, racketeering and tax evasion and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He was expelled from the House July 24, 2002.[276]Frederick W. Richmond (D-NY),Convicted of tax evasion and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months(1982)[277]See Federal sex scandals.Dan Flood (D-PA) censured for bribery. After a trial ended in a deadlocked jury, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year's probation.[278][279]Joshua Eilberg (D-PA) pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges. In addition, he convinced president Carter to fire the U.S. Attorney investigating his case.[280]Judicial Branch[edit]Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Federal District court judge impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate of soliciting a bribe (1989).[281] Subsequently elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1992)[282]Harry Claiborne (D-NE), Federal District court Judge impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate on two counts of tax evasion. He served over one year in prison.[283]1977–1981 James E. Carter Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Debategate: an election briefing book for President Jimmy Carter was stolen and given to Ronald Reagan before U.S. presidential election, 1980[284]Bert Lance Director of OMB, resigned amid allegations of misuse of funds during the sale of a Georgia bank to BCCI.(1977)[285] In 1981, Lance was acquitted by a jury of nine counts of bank fraud.[286]Legislative branch[edit]Daniel J. Flood (D-PA) During the 96th United States Congress, Flood was censured for bribery. The allegations led to his resignation on January 31, 1980.(1980)[287]Fred Richmond (D-NY) – Convicted of tax fraud and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months in prison. Charges of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy were dropped after he submitted to counseling. (1978)[288]Charles Diggs (D-MI), convicted on 29 charges of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms which formed a kickback scheme with his staff. Sentenced to 3 years (1978)[289]Herman Talmadge Senator (D-GA), On October 11, 1979, Talmadge was denounced by the Senate for "improper financial conduct". He failed to be re-elected. (1979)[290]Michael Myers (D-PA) Received suspended six-month jail term after pleading no contest to disorderly conduct charged stemming from an incident at a Virginia bar in which he allegedly attacked a hotel security guard and a cashier.[291]Charles H. Wilson (D-CA) censured after he converted $25,000 in campaign funds to his own use and accepted $10,500 from a man with a direct interest in legislation before Congress. This was a later non-Park incident.[292]John Connally (R-TX), Milk Money scandal. Accused of accepting a $10K bribe. He was acquitted. (1975)[293]Richard Tonry (D-LA) pleaded guilty to receiving illegal campaign contributions.[294]Koreagate scandal involving alleged bribery of more than 30 members of Congress by the South Korean government represented by Tongsun Park. Several other Koreans and Congressmen were allegedly involved, but not charged or reprimanded.[295] The most notable are:Richard T. Hanna (D-CA) pleaded guilty[296] and sentenced to 6–30 months in federal prison.[297] Wound up serving a year in prison.[298]Otto E. Passman (D-LA) was accused of bribery and other charges,[299] but found innocent.[300]John J. McFall, Edward Roybal, and Charles H. Wilson, all (D-CA). Roybal was censured and Wilson was reprimanded,[301] while McFall was reprimanded,[302]1974–1977 Gerald Ford Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Nixon pardon: President Gerald Ford (R) pardoned President Richard Nixon (R), (who had chosen Ford to be his vice-president), just before Nixon could be tried for conspiracy and impeached by Congress for his role in the Watergatescandal. (1974)[303]Earl Butz, Secretary of Agriculture When asked privately why the party of Lincoln was not able to attract more blacks. Butz replied: "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit." Butz resigned soon after. (1976) [52][304]Earl Butz (R) was appointed Secretary of Agriculture by President Gerald Ford(R) and charged with failing to report more than $148,000 in 1978. He pleaded guilty to the tax evasion charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation and was ordered to make restitution. He served 25 days behind bars before his release.[305][306]Legislative Branch[edit]Andrew J. Hinshaw (R-CA) Congressman convicted of accepting bribes while Assessor of Orange County. He served one year in prison. (1977)[307]Wayne L. Hays (D-OH), resigned from Congress after hiring and promoting his mistress, Elizabeth Ray See sex scandals. (1976)[308]Henry Helstoski (D-NJ) Indicted on charges of accepting bribes to aid immigrants but the case was dismissed by the Supreme Court. (1976)[309]James F. Hastings (R-NY), convicted of kickbacks and mail fraud. Took money from his employees for personal use. Served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary (1976)[310]Robert L. F. Sikes (D-FL) reprimanded for conflict of interest in failing to disclose stock holdings.[292]John V. Dowdy (D-TX), Served 6 months in prison for perjury. (1973)[311]Bertram Podell (D-NY), pleaded guilty to conspiracy and conflict of interest. He was fined $5,000 and served four months in prison (1974)[312]Frank Brasco (D-NY) Sentenced to three months in jail and fined $10,000 for conspiracy to accept bribes from a reputed Mafia figure who sought truck leasing contracts from the Post Office and loans to buy trucks.[280]Frank Clark (D-PA) Paid congressional salaries to 13 Pennsylvania residents who performed no official duties.[280]Wilbur Mills (D-AR) Stepped down as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee after his affair with Argentinian stripper Fanne Fox was made public in 1974.[313]Judicial Branch[edit]Otto Kerner, Jr. (D) Resigned as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit after conviction for bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion while Governor of Illinois. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined $50,000. (1974)[314]1969–1974 Richard M. Nixon Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Spiro Agnew Vice-President (R-MD) to Richard Nixon was convicted of tax fraud stemming from bribery charges in Maryland and forced to resign.[315] Gerald R. Ford (R-MI)(1973) was nominated by Nixon and replaced Agnew as Vice President (the first person appointed to the Vice Presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment.)Bebe Rebozo (R)[316] investigated for accepting large contribution to Nixon campaign. No charges were filed (1973)[317]Watergate (1972–1974) President Richard Nixon(R) ordered the coverup of the burglary and 'bugging' of the Democratic Party National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The cover up by Nixon and his staff resulted in 69 government officials being charged and 48 convicted or pleading guilty. Eventually, Nixon resigned his office rather than face impeachment.[318] Those involved include:John N. Mitchell, Attorney General of the United States, convicted of perjury. Served 19 months of a one- to four-year sentence.[319]Richard Kleindienst, Attorney General, convicted of "refusing to answer questions" given one month in jail.[320]Jeb Stuart Magruder, Head of Committee to Re-elect the President, pleaded guilty to 1 count of conspiracy, August 1973[321]Frederick C. LaRue, Advisor to John Mitchell, convicted of obstruction of justice.[321]H. R. Haldeman, Chief of Staff for Nixon, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.[322]John Ehrlichman, Counsel to Nixon, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.[323]Egil Krogh, aide to John Ehrlichman, sentenced to six months.[321]John W. Dean III, counsel to Nixon, convicted of obstruction of justice.[321]Dwight L. Chapin, deputy assistant to Nixon, convicted of perjury.[321]Herbert W. Kalmbach, personal attorney to Nixon, convicted of illegal campaigning.[321]Charles W. Colson, special counsel to Nixon, convicted of obstruction of justice.[320]Herbert L. Porter, aide to the Committee to Re-elect the President. Convicted of perjury.[321]G. Gordon Liddy, Special Investigations Group, convicted of burglary.[321]Legislative Branch[edit]Ted Kennedy Senator (D-MA) drove his car into a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, a small island off of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, passenger Mary Jo Kopechne drowned. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence of two months.[324] (1969)Cornelius Gallagher (D-NJ) pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and served two years in prison.[325]J. Irving Whalley (R-PA) Received suspended three-year sentence and fined $11,000 in 1973 for using mails to deposit staff salary kickbacks and threatening an employee to prevent her from giving information to the FBI.[280]Martin B. McKneally (R-NY) Placed on one-year probation and fined $5,000 in 1971 for failing to file income tax return. He had not paid taxes for many years prior.[326]Richard T. Hanna (D-CA), convicted in an influence-buying scandal. (1974)[327]Judicial Branch[edit]Harold Carswell Judge (R): Was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court (1970) by Richard Nixon, but was not confirmed. Civil-rights advocates questioned his civil rights record, citing his voiced support for racial segregationduring his unsuccessful election bid in 1948. Various feminists, including Betty Friedan, testified before the Senate, opposed his nomination and contributed to his defeat.[328] Roman Hruska (Republican, Nebraska) stated:"Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos."[320][329]1963–1969 Lyndon B. Johnson Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Bobby Baker, (D) Secretary to the Majority Leader of the Senate (the vice-president then serving) and adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson: resigned after charges of favoritism. (1963)[330]Legislative Branch[edit]Thomas J. Dodd, Senator (D-CT): Censured by the Senate for financial misconduct (1967)[331]Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY): was expelled from Congress but won the special election as his own replacement (1967)[332]Daniel Brewster (D-MD) Senator pleaded no contest to accepting an illegal gratuity in 1975 and fined $10,000.[333][334]Brewster was convicted in 1972 of accepting $14,500 from a lobbyist,[335] and got a six-year term in 1973 over the conviction,[336] but the conviction was overturned on grounds of unclear jury instructions.[337]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.[190]James Fred Hastings (R-NY) was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention and the 1972 Republican National Convention. He was elected to Congress in 1968 and served from January 3, 1969, until he resigned on January 20, 1976 after being convicted of kickbacks and mail fraud. He served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary (1976).[338]Judicial Branch[edit]Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (D): resigned when he was discovered to be a paid consultant to a convicted criminal. No charges were ever filed. (1969)[339]1961–1963 John F. Kennedy Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Thomas F. Johnson (D-MD) In 1962, he was indicted on charges of members of Maryland's S&L industry bribing him and lost his seat. Later was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest in 1968, served 31⁄2 months of a 6-month sentence and was fined $5,000.[340]Frank Boykin (D-AL) Was placed on six months' probation in 1963 following conviction in a case involving a conflict of interest and conspiracy to defraud the government. His prison sentence was suspended on age and health grounds and was fined $40,000 total. He was pardoned by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.[341][342]1953–1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Richard Nixon (R): Eisenhower's V-P nominee delivers "Checkers Speech", to deflect scandal about $18,000 in gifts, maintaining the only personal gift he had received was a dog (1952)[343](Llewelyn) Sherman A. Adams, Chief of Staff to President Dwight Eisenhower. Cited for Contempt of Congress and forced to resign because he refused to answer questions about an oriental rug and vicuna coat given to his wife.(1958)[344]John C. Doerfer Republican. Appointed Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Eisenhower. In 1960, he spent a week-long Florida vacation on the yacht owned by his friend George B. Storer, president of Storer Broadcasting; as a result, he was accused of conflict of interest and forced to resign.[345][346]Legislative Branch[edit]McCarthyism: A broad political and cultural purge against people suspected of sympathy with communism, starting near the end of World War II and reaching its climax in the investigations of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The Senate passed a resolution of condemnation against McCarthy in 1954 after an embarrassing investigation of the United States Army, ending his career, but anti-communist purges continued for several years.[347][348]Thomas J. Lane (D-MA) convicted for evading taxes on his congressional income. Served 4 months in prison, but was re-elected three more times[349] before his 1962 defeat due to re-districting. (1956)[350]Ernest K. Bramblett (R-CA) Received a suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine in 1955 for making false statements in connection with payroll padding and kickbacks from congressional employees.[351]Douglas Stringfellow (R-UT) Abandoned his 1954 re-election bid after admitting to embellishing his war record. Stringfellow falsely claimed to have been awarded a Silver Star and feigned paraplegia.[352]1945–1953 Harry S. Truman Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]A Justice Department investigation of the Internal Revenue Service led to the firing or resignation of 166 lower level employees causing President Harry Truman (D) to be stained with charges of corruption (1950)[353]Legislative Branch[edit]Walter E. Brehm (R-OH) convicted of accepting contributions illegally from one of his employees. Received a 15-month suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine.[354]J. Parnell Thomas (R-NJ): a member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), was convicted of salary fraud and given an 18-month sentence and a fine, resigning from Congress in 1950. He was imprisoned in Danbury Prison with two of the Hollywood Ten he had helped put there. After serving his 18 months he was pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952,[355]Andrew J. May (D-KY) Convicted of accepting bribes in 1947 from a war munitions manufacturer. Was sentenced to 9 months in prison, after which he was pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952.[356]James Michael Curley (D-MA) was sentenced to 6–18 months on mail fraud and spent five months in prison before his sentence was commuted by President Truman (1947)[357]1933–1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Francis Henry Shoemaker (Farmer-Labor-MN) was sentenced to a year and a day in the penetentiary for sending scurrilous and defamatory materials through the mail. (1933)[358]Marion Zioncheck (D-WA) Killed after he jumped or was possibly pushed out a window in Seattle, WA while still in office. He was known to have been feuding with J. Edgar Hoover. (1936)[359]John H. Hoeppel (D-CA), convicted of trying to sell an appointment to the West Point Military Academy. (1936)[360]Judicial Branch[edit]Halsted Ritter (R) U.S. District Judge of Florida, impeached for secretly taking a $4,500 fee from a former law partner. Convicted of bringing the judiciary into disrepute (accepting free meals and lodging during receivership proceedings.) Removed from office. (1936)[361]1929–1933 Herbert Hoover Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Hiram Bingham Senator (R-CT) Censured for hiring a lobbyist employed by a manufacturing organization to work on his staff. (1929)[362]Harry E. Rowbottom (R-IN) was convicted in Federal court of accepting bribes from persons who sought post office appointments. he was given one year in Leavenworth.[363]1923–1929 Calvin Coolidge Administration[edit]George English (D) U.S. District Judge of Illinois, impeached for taking an interest-free loan from a bank of which he was director. Resigned before his Senate trial. (1926)[364]John W. Langley (R-KY) Resigned from the US Congress in January 1926, after losing an appeal to set aside his conviction of violating the Volstead Act (Prohibition). He had also been caught trying to bribe a Prohibition officer. He was sentenced to two years after which, his wife ran for Congress in his place and won two full terms.[365][366]Senator William Scott Vare (R-PA) was unseated on December 6, 1929, due to charges of corruption and fraud during his election.[367]1921–1923 Warren G. Harding Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Warren G. Harding (R-OH) President 1921–1923. His administration was marred by scandals stemming from men in his administration who followed him from Ohio who came to be known as the Ohio Gang.[368] They include;Albert Fall. Secretary of the Interior who was bribed by Harry F. Sinclair for control of the Teapot Dome federal oil reserves in Wyoming. He was the first U.S. cabinet member to ever be convicted; he served two years in prison. (1922)[369]Edwin C. Denby, Secretary of the Navy: resigned for his part in the Teapot Dome oil reserve scandal.[370]Harry M. Daugherty, Attorney General: resigned on March 28, 1924, because of an investigation about a bootlegging kickback scheme by his chief aide Jess Smith. Found not guilty. (1924)[371]Jess Smith aide to Attorney General Daugherty who destroyed incriminating papers and then committed suicide.[371]Charles R. Forbes appointed by Harding as the first director of the new Bureau of Veterans Affairs. After constructing and modernizing VA hospitals, he was convicted of bribery and corruption and sentenced to two years in jail.[372]Charles Cramer Forbes' general counsel, committed suicide. (1923)[373]Thomas W. Miller, Head of the Office of Alien Property: convicted of fraud by selling valuable German patents seized after World War I for far below market price as well as bribery. Served 18 months.[374]Legislative Branch[edit]Thomas L. Blanton (D-TX) censured for inserting obscene material into the congressional record. According toFranklin Wheeler Mondell (R-WY) the letter was said to contain language that was "unspeakable, vile, foul, filthy, profane, blasphemous and obscene". A motion to expel him failed by 8 votes.(1921)[375]1913–1921 Woodrow Wilson Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Newport Sex Scandal: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated an investigation into allegations of "immoral conduct" (homosexuality) at the Naval base in Newport, Rhode Island. After the report, which revealed nothing, the investigators themselves were also accused of homosexuality. (1919)[376]1909–1913 William Howard Taft Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]William Lorimer Senator (R-IL), The 'blond boss of Chicago' was expelled from the U.S. Senate in 1912 for accepting bribes.[377]Benjamin R. Tillman Senator (D-SC) and John McLaurin, Senator (D-SC) were both censured for fighting in the Senate chamber.[378]Ralph Cameron Senator (R-AZ) attempted to control access to the Grand Canyon by buying mining rights to adjacent lands. (1912)[379]Judicial branch[edit]Robert Archbald(R) U.S. Commerce Court Judge of Pennsylvania, for corrupt alliances with coal mine workers and railroad officials. Convicted and removed from office. (1912)[380]1901–1909 Theodore Roosevelt Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]John Hipple Mitchell Senator (R-OR) was involved with the Oregon land fraud scandal, for which he was indicted andconvicted while a sitting U.S. Senator. He died before sentencing.(1905)[381]Joseph R. Burton Senator (R-KS) was convicted of bribery in 1904 on the charge of illegally receiving compensation for services rendered before a federal department and served five months in prison. (1904)[382]Henry B. Cassel (R-PA) in 1909, Cassel was convicted of fraud related to the construction of the Pennsylvania State Capitol.[383]1897 - 1901 William McKinley Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Oregon US Federal District Attorney John Hicklin Hall (R) was appointed by President William McKinley. In 1903, Hall was ordered to investigate land fraud in what became known as the Oregon land fraud scandal and was put on trial for failing to prosecute land companies engaging in fraudulent activities, and for using his knowledge of illegal activities toblackmail his political opponents. On February 8, 1908, a jury found Hall guilty of the charges.(1907)[384] He was later pardoned by President William Howard Taft.[385]1881-1885 Chester A. Arthur Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Nehemiah G. Ordway (R) Governor of Dakota Territory was removed by President Chester A. Arthur after he was indicted for corruption. (1884)[386]1881-1881 James A. Garfield Administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Stephen W. Dorsey, Senator (R-AR) was included in the investigation of corruption of Star Route postal contracts under the administrations of President James A. Garfield (R) and President Chester A. Arthur (R). (1881)1877-1881 Rutherford B. Hayes Administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Ezra Ayres Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs under Rutherford B. Hayes was forced to resign by Interior SecretaryCarl Schurz due to allegations of rampant corruption. (1880)[387]1869–1877 Ulysses S. Grant Administration[edit]Executive branch[edit]William Belknap (R), United States Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant(R): Resigned just before he was impeached by the United States House of Representatives for bribery. (1876)[388]Whiskey Ring: Massive corruption of Ulysses S. Grant's (R) administration involving whiskey taxes, bribery and kickbacks ending with 110 convictions. (1875)[389]Orville E. Babcock (R) personal secretary to Ulysses S. Grant who was indicted in the Whiskey Ring scandal and 10 days later in the Safe Burglary Conspiracy. He was acquitted both times.[389]John J. McDonald (R) Supervisor of the Internal Revenue Service. Convicted and sentenced to three years.[389]W.O. Avery Chief Clerk of the Treasury Department. Convicted.[389]Sanborn contract: kickback scheme between William Adams Richardson(R) Grant's Secretary of the Treasury and John D. Sanborn (1874)[390]Black Friday (1869): When financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market by getting Ulysses S. Grant's brother in law Abel Corbin to convince Grant to appoint General Daniel Butterfield as Assistant to theSecretary of the Treasury where he could then give them insider information. (1869)[391]George M. Robeson, Grant's Secretary of the Navy, was admonished by the House for gross misconduct and corruption in relation to his dealings with Alexander Cattel. (1876)[392]Salary Grab Act: The act that increased the salaries of the President, Congress and the Supreme Court. (1873)Columbus Delano Secretary of the Interior under Grant, resigned after allegedly taking bribes in order to secure fraudulent land grants.[393]Legislative branch[edit]Crédit Mobilier of America scandal:[394]Oakes Ames (R-MA) bribed Congress with Union Pacific stock.[395]James Brooks (D-NY) also implicated; both were censured for their involvement. (1872)[396]Judicial branch[edit]Mark Delahay (R) a U.S. District Judge of Kansas and cofounder of the Republican Party.[397] He was impeached by the United States House of Representatives on February 28, 1873 for "intoxication off the bench as well as on the bench",[398] He resigned two months later. (1873)1865–1869 Andrew Johnson administration[edit]Executive branch[edit]Andrew Johnson: President (I) Abraham Lincoln's vice-president, was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act. He was acquitted by one vote. (1868)[399]1861–1865 Abraham Lincoln administrations[edit]Executive branch[edit]Simon Cameron (R): Lincoln's Secretary of War resigned in 1862 due to corruption charges. His behavior was so notorious that Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, when discussing Cameron's honesty with Lincoln, told him that "I don't think that he would steal a red hot stove". When Cameron demanded Stevens retract this statement, Stevens told Lincoln "I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back." (1860–1862)[400]Legislative Branch[edit]Senator James F. Simmons (R-RI) on July 14, 1862, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported corruption charges against him were correct and referred them to the full Senate for action. The Senate adjourned three days later without acting. Before it could reconvene Simmons resigned on September 5, 1862. [401]1857–1861 James Buchanan administration[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Preston Brooks (D-SC) caned Senator Charles Sumner until he was bleeding and unconscious while two others held the Senate off at gun point. (1856)[402]Daniel Sickles (D-NY) shot and killed the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia[403] Philip Barton Key II, son of Francis Scott Key, whom the Congressman had discovered was having an affair with Sickles's young wife, Teresa. He was tried and acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity plea. (1859)[404]1849–1850 Zachary Taylor administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]George W. Crawford (Whig-GA) Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Zachary Taylor (Whig) was the center of the Galphin Affair land scandal with the help of Reverdy Johnson (Whig) Attorney General and William M. Meredith(Whig) Secretary of the Treasury, in which Crawford defrauded the federal government of $191,353. (1849)[405]1829–1836 Andrew Jackson administrations[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Samuel Swartwout was appointed by President Andrew Jackson to the New York City Collector's Office. At the end of his term he had embezzled $1.225 million in customs receipts and used the money to purchase land. He fled to Europe to avoid prosecution.[406]Margaret O'Neill Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John H. Eaton was a central figure in the Petticoat Affair which involved accusations that she had engaged in an extramarital affair, and her social ostracism by the wives of other Cabinet members led by Floride Calhoun, the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun.[407]Legislative Branch[edit]Robert Potter: Congressman from North Carolina who resigned from Congress after castrating two men he believed were having an affair with his wife. (1831)[408] Later, in North Carolina, he was expelled from its legislature for cheating at cards or for pulling a gun and a knife during a card game. (1835)[408]1817–1824 James Monroe administrations[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]Corrupt Bargain: supposed bargain by John Quincy Adams with Henry Clay. (1824)[409]1801–1808 Thomas Jefferson administrations[edit]Executive branch[edit]General James Wilkinson: was appointed to be Governor of the upper Louisiana Purchase. He then conspired with Spain to get Kentucky to secede from the Union in order to allow shipping on the Mississippi to reach New Orleans. (1787–1811)[410]Aaron Burr: New Empire (Southwest) Burr conspiracy (1804–1807) In which Burr allegedly tried to seize a large part of the Louisiana Purchase and establish his own country. He was arrested for treason, but was acquitted for lack of evidence. (1807)[411]Aaron Burr: duel with Alexander Hamilton (1804). See also Burr's "New Empire" conspiracy[412]Judicial Branch[edit]Samuel Chase Supreme Court Justice appointed by George Washington impeached for political favoritism and acquitted in 1805.[413]John Pickering, Federal Judge appointed by George Washington was impeached and convicted in absentia by the U.S. Senate for drunkenness and use of profanity on the bench in spite of the fact neither act was a high crime or misdemeanor. (1804)[414]1797–1800 John Adams administration[edit]Executive Branch[edit]XYZ Affair: French seizure of over 300 US ships and demands for bribes and apologies, led to a Quasi-War causing the US Congress to issue the famous phrase, "Millions for defense, sir, but not one cent for tribute!" Real war was averted by treaty. (1798–1800)[415]Matthew Lyon (Democratic-Republican KY). First Congressman recommended for censure for spitting on Ralph Griswold (Federalist-CT). The censure failed to pass.[416] Also found guilty of violating John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts and sentenced to four months in jail, during which he was re-elected (1798)[417]1789–1796 George Washington administrations[edit]Legislative Branch[edit]William Blount Senator (Democratic-Republican-TN) Expelled from the Senate for trying to aid the British in a takeover of West Florida. (1797)[418]1777–1788[edit]Executive Branch[edit]Conway Cabal: movement or conspiracy to remove George Washington as commander of the Continental Army byThomas Conway and Horatio Gates (1777–1778)[419]Silas Deane: accused of mismanagement and treason while ambassador to France. Intending to clear himself of the charges he died suddenly, and the charges were eventually reversed or dropped. (1777)[420]

Ok lets take this point by point shall we?Columbine.Sandy Hook.Charleston.Pulse.Las Vegas.Parkland.Pittsburgh.Now El Paso. Dayton.Starting off strong with a plea to emotion rather than on merits, or what people want.These are just a few of the names etched into the American consciousness, synonymous with senseless loss and enduring grief.It’s been a week since these latest attacks, and on average every day 100 people are killed in the U.S. by a gun — in shootings that occur in our homes, on our streets, at our playgrounds.Fact check. No these people are killed by people, not guns. And more than 2/3 are by themselves. Not exactly the picture she was painting with her emotional appeal in the previous section. Lieing and false framing to the audience, another point against warren. Because if the facts or even the audience are on your side you dont need to decieve like this.The victims are our neighbors and our friends. Someone’s mother, someone’s child, someone’s sibling.Half true but statistically I'd like to point out that women are rarely shot. Instead it's almost exclusively men so it should have been stated as fathers, sons and brothers. Attempting to gender this as a female issue is deceptive and immoral.There is no shortage of horrifying statistics about our gun violence epidemic.Our firearm homicide rate is 25 times higher than other comparable countries.Again, she gave a half truth, in order to make it seem like America is far worse off than it is with framing, and decietful comparisons. We have a fraction the rate of our southern neighbor mexico (which is according to the UN is also an industrialized nation) and only 4-5 times the rate of nations like Canada and Germany.Even if it were true the framing of question is decietful as it tries to make a comparison by the most extreme example, then further fails to address how much is justifiable homicide (see personal defense) and the rate of overall violence and homicide of these nations as well. And it also fails to address three major questions. First, whether their “stricter laws" were the cause their lower firearm homicide rate, or if it was more a result of their cultural homogeny, geography, or other factors. Second if such laws affected the overall rate of violence and homicide in those nations. And third, and most importantly if such laws would have the effect being claimed here in America.Even then trying to compare country like the US, where the minority populations approaching 50%, to nations like those like Brittian and France where the population is over 90% ethnicly identical, and who have different cultutal, economic and philosophical histories is disingenuous to begin with.Or to compare nations like Luxembourg and Portugal to the third most populous nation on this planet is absurd. We fought a revolution specifically to not be a part of Europe and to form our own nation. There were reasons for that. There still are.Considering 80% of our homicide is gang related and most of that is connected to our southern neighbor (which we insulate our northern neighbor from), this lie is particularly awful.Our firearm suicide rate is nearly 10 times higher.Again. Full stop. Completly disingenuous framing.According to google america has a 13.7/100000 for suicide. Japan is at 14.3, finland is at 13.8, Belgium is at 15.7, Lithuania is at 25.7. Overall europe is at 15.4. All higher than america's rate. If guns were the problem our number would be over a 40Women in the U.S. are 21 times more likely to be shot to death than women in other high-income countries, most killed by an intimate partner.But are they more likely to die over all? Does it really make it worse that they are shot rather than beheaded? Stoned to death? Or just beaten as in other countries? Shes painting a picture that is simply not true.21 children and teenagers are shot every day.False framing, an 18 year old is an adult in the USA, most of these shootings are gang related and would not be affected in any meaningful way by gun control. Trying to say its children who are the victims while lumping in adults into the numbers and ignoring that its mostly gang members shooting each other is disingenuous at best.The list goes on.Yes im certain she could lie to us more. Shes a politician after all.And while the majority of Americans — including a majority of gun owners — support sensible gun legislation, even the most basic proposals, like universal background checks, are consistently blocked by far-right ideologues in Congress who are bought and paid for by the gun industry, their NRA partners, and a supporting army of lobbyists and lawyers100% False.They are blocked by everyone who actually reads your proposed laws and finds them to be much different from what is promised or polled for. Meaning they are a defacto ban on any private transfers, which includes letting people borrow them at the range, letting your children use them to hunt, or even your spouse grabbing your gun out of the safe because a burglar broke in in the middle of the night. What is polled on and what is proposed are so terribly different that no one is willing to support the laws. and thats not even getting in to the overreach that is always included in the laws.DeceptionFaced with a complex and entrenched public health crisis,Health crisis? I thought we were talking about gun crimes, an inherent crime and justice issue. Not health one.Outright liesmade worse by the ongoing inability of a corrupt government to do anything about it,A corrupt government that she has been a central leader in for decades.it’s easy to despair. But we are not incapable of solving big problems. We’ve done it before.Yes through ignoring you and passing things like concealed carry laws our crime has halved since the early 90s. And continued to drop after we let the failure that was our last assault weapon ban expire.In 1965, more than five people died in automobile accidents for every 100 million miles traveled. It was a massive crisis. As a nation, we decided to do better. Some things were obvious: seatbelts, safer windshields, and padded dashboards. Other things only became clear over time: things like airbags and better brake systems. But we made changes, we did what worked, and we kept at it. Over fifty years, we reduced per-mile driving deaths by almost 80% and prevented 3.5 million automobile deaths. And we’re still at it.Absolutely irrelevant. And misleading. Many of those deaths were stopped by safety features like, as she pointed out putting in airbags. I dont know how you can realistically put airbags on bullets. Nor do i think it would do much good at 850-4000 feet per second. Safety features wont reduce non-justified gun homicides. Though it may drop the justified number a bit.In 2017, almost 40,000 people died from guns in the United States.Most by suicides, many studies have found that even removing guns does not stop suicide but rather merely changes the method. Not the result.My goal as President, and our goal as a society, will be to reduce that number by 80%. We might not know how to get all the way there yet.So you want to do something but have no idea how. Why are we voting for you again? As prior noted 2/3 are suicides, without addressing that you wont even start. Nothing you propose does that. And 80% of the remainder is from gang violence. Most could be stopped by simply enforcing the laws we have, stop pleading away gun charges, and focusing police work on inner city slums. But Warren and Democrats have, for decades, advocated against such policies and fought against them as racist. You cant fail hard enough to pass here.But we’ll start by implementing solutions that we believe will work.You mean by implementing the same failed laws like the 1994 awb which the federal commission found “no measurable impact on crime”? By wasting our time, money and efforts on things that do not work. At least the religious zelots are praying to something we cannot prove doesn't exist. When you are still worshiping these proven to be wrong policies, what does that say for you?We’ll continue by constantly revisiting and updating those solutions based on new public health research.So you admit what you are proposing is just the start and you're going to keep pushing for more and more till you achive youre adgenda. Sounds like you are advocating for slippery slope, not denying one.And we’ll make structural changes to end the ability of corrupt extremists to block our government from defending the lives of our people — starting with ending the filibuster.So you are planning on subverting the constitution, and silencing the people, because you dont like that they are stopping you from imposing your will upon the unconsenting masses? The president doesn't have that kind of power, and Warren is proposing literal facistic tyranny. America fight wars against that, not votes for it. If all were just that statement would have ended her political career.Here’s what that will look like.As president, I will immediately take executive action to rein in an out-of-control gun industry — and to hold both gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for the violence promoted by their products.Thats literally facismAnd you cant hold the manufacturer accountable for people misusing their products. Thats just crazy. That would be like holding GM accountable for vehicular homicide, DaimlerChrysler for drunken driving, and ford for auto accidents. You cant sue spoon manufacturers or ben and jerries for obesity.I will break the NRA’s stranglehold on Congress by passing sweeping anti-corruption legislation and eliminating the filibuster so that our nation can no longer be held hostage by a small group of well-financed extremists who have already made it perfectly clear that they will never put the safety of the American people first.Again the president has no power over congressional rules like the filibuster. the nra isnt even close to a top lobbying group, and they dont hire ex politicians for cushy jobs. Their power comes from their ability to harness and direct votes. No “anti corruption” laws will touch that. The people holding politicians hostage here are the voters. Thats called democracy.I will send Congress comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation.That will NEVER passI will sign it into law within my first 100 days.How? It wont pass. The president doesn't have supreme power here. Your cake is a lie.And we will revisit this comprehensive legislation every single year — adding new ideas and tweaking existing ones based on new data — to continually reduce the number of gun deaths in America.Again pointing out that everyone warning about slippery slope was right. Your just promising to keep banning more, and harassing gun owners till there are no guns left.Executive Action to Reduce Gun ViolenceReform advocates are engaged in a valuable discussion about gun reforms that can be achieved by executive action. We must pursue these solutions to the fullest extent of the law, including by redefining anyone “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms to include the vast majority of gun sales outside of family-to-family exchanges. This will extend requirements — not only for background checks, but all federal gun rules — to cover all of those sales. This includes:Again beyond executive action, harassing gun owners and not going to affect gun crime. Billy letting his buddy bobby borrow a gun to hunting with does not affect gun crime. And private sales are specifically protected from this under law. This is especially dangerous as a violation of the separation of powers and the power creep of the executive branch. She is an overt tyrant, she has no excuse, being a part of the government for decades, she knows what the limits of the office are.Requiring background checks. We will bring the vast majority of private sales, including at gun shows and online, under the existing background check umbrella.Copy and paste point gets a copy and paste response.Again beyond executive action, harassing gun owners and not going to affect gun crime. Billy letting his buddy bobby borrow a gun to hunting with does not affect gun crime. And private sales are specifically protected from this under law. This is especially dangerous as a violation of the separation of powers and the power creep of the executive branch. She is an overt tyrant, she has no excuse, being a part of the government for decades, she knows what the limits of the office are.Reporting on multiple purchases. We will extend the existing requirement to report bulk sales to nearly all gun sales. And I’ll extend existing reporting requirements on the mass purchase of certain rifles from the southwestern border states to all 50 states.And what purpose does this serve? Why are we wasting time and federal resources on this again. Are we starting another Fast and Furious scandal?Raising the minimum age. We will expand the number of sales covered by existing age restriction provisions that require the purchaser to be at least 18 years old, keeping guns out of the hands of more teenagers.All gun purchasers already need to be 18 or older. There are no exceptions. She needs to stop lieing. This is why no one trusts politicians.My administration will use all the authorities at the federal government’s disposal to investigate and prosecute all those who circumvent or violate existing federal gun laws. This includes:Largely beyond the federal scope of power. This is a state enforcement thing. And the federal authorities already do everything they have the power to do.Prosecuting gun traffickers. Gun trafficking across state linesGotta catch them first, again largely a state issue as the federal government cannot enforce state laws.allows guns to move from states with fewer restrictions to those with strict safety standards,Cant blame those who have the problem on those who dont. And you cannot restrict movement between states. Another violation of the constitution and other laws that she would have zero power to do. Further laws regulating grip style oplacemenet, and muzzle atachments aren't safety standards, they're pointless harrassing of gun owners.and gun trafficking across our southern border contributes to gang violenceIm sorry, isn't that what the government does? Otherwise why would we have had Operation Gun Walker sending literally thousands of guns acrossed the southern border to the cartells?that sends migrants fleeing north.That they walk thousands of miles through the deserts and forests that are the gangs territories entirly unprotected to get here. sorry that makes no sense. Our gun laws aren't harming other countries. Their gang and drug cartel problems are their own.I’ll instruct my Attorney General to go after the interstate and transnational gun trafficking trade with all the resources of the federal government.as opposed to committing this trafficking? A fine turn around of government policy.Revoking licenses for gun dealers who break the rules. Only 1% of gun dealers are responsible for 57% of guns used in crimes. My Administration will direct the ATF to prioritize oversight of dealers with serial compliance violations — and then use its authority to revoke the license of dealers who repeatedly violate the rules.Already the law, already the action.Investigating the NRA and its cronies. The NRA is accused of exploiting loopholes in federal laws governing non-profit spending to divert member dues into lavish payments for its board members and senior leadership. I’ll appoint an attorney general committed to investigating these types of corrupt business practices,Ok, so maaaaaaaybe a single point of common ground.and the banks and third-party vendors — like Wells Fargo — that enabled the NRA to skirt the rules for so long.And she lost it. the banks cannot tell anyone, not even non profits and lobyist groups, what they can and cannot do with their own .money its clear she’s just trying to weaponize the government against political opponents and any who dare to work with them in any fassion. Can you say tyranny.To protect the most vulnerable, my administration will use ATF’s existing regulatory authority to the greatest degree possible, including by:Protecting survivors of domestic abuse. We will close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by defining intimate partner to include anyone with a domestic violence conviction involving any form of romantic partner.Um.. what nonsense is this? The girlfriend loophole is where the ex-con has his girlfriend buy a gun for him. I assume the boyfriend loophole is the same thing just renamed to try to exculpiate the woman doing the purchase. Either way its a straw purchase and unlawful under the law already.Reversing the Trump administration’s efforts to weaken our existing gun rules. We will rescind the Trump-era rules and policies that weaken our gun safety regime, including rules that lower the standards for purchasing a gun,You mean when he reversed the obama era restrictions on people whos only crime was needing help with finances? How dare the people use accountants and tax firms.and those that make it easier to create untraceable weapons or modify weapons in ways that circumvent the law.Again the law explicitly allows people to make their own guns. Its been this way since 1776. Not a trump era policy.This includes overturning Trump-era policies enabling 3-D printed guns, regulating 80% receivers as firearms, and reversing the ATF ruling that allows a shooter to convert a pistol to a short-barreled rifle using pistol braces.Our right to move data and information is enshrined in our first amendment. The atf ruling is an obama era ruling, not a trump policy. And making your own guns has been legal since before were a country. the misinformation is thick here.Restrict the movement of guns across our borders. We will reverse the Trump administration’s efforts to make it easier to export U.S.-manufactured weapons by transferring exports of semi-automatic firearms and ammunition from the State Department to the Commerce Department, and we will prevent the import of foreign-manufactured assault weapons into the United States.Wait, you want to make it harder for legal businesses to legally export legal products in a legal way to people legally allowed to get them in foreign countries?Fine but dont get upset when people rightly point out that you are anti-business.The shooting in El Paso also reminds us that we need to call out white nationalism for what it is: domestic terrorism.And the one in dayton teaches us the terrorism is as much perpetrated by left wing fanatics and spurred on by a one sided media stoking increasing political divides and glorifying violent actors like anti-faInstead of a president who winks and nods as white nationalism gets stronger in this country, we need a president who will use all the tools available to prevent it. It is completely incompatible with our American values, it is a threat to American safety and security, and a Warren Justice Department will prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law.Again its an equally large problem on the left as it is on the right, will you enforce this evenly on both sides? Your rhetoric makes me think not. These uneven rules and selective enforcement are why we have this problem to begin with.Structural Changes to Pass Gun Safety LegislationThe next president has a moral obligation to use whatever executive authority she has to address the gun crisis.You you've already delcared victory and proclaimed the next President will be a woman, not trump, becareful thats the same arrogance that put trump in the white house to begin with.But it is obvious that executive action is not enough. Durable reform requires legislationSeing as how much of what you proposed is either unconstitutional or misdirected i comend you for at least getting this right. Any change at this point will require legislation. And the population at large opposes yours.— but right now legislation is impossible.Because the american people dont want more, stricter gun control. They oppose what you are proposing and more importantly vote out those who push your policies senator Warren.Why? A virulent mix of corruption and abuse of power.Only if by that you mean its unpopular and people vote accordingly.Big money talks in Washington. And the NRA represents a particularly noxious example of Washington corruption at work.This oughta be goodOver the last two decades, the NRA has spent over $200 million on lobbying Congress,so… nra spent about $10 million a year… as opposed to:$95 million, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2018 alone$73 million, National Association of Realtors in 2018 alone$28 million, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in 2018 aloneIn fact, Pharmaceutical groups together are spending heavily to influence public opinion and policy as rising drug prices become an increasingly mainstream political talking point. The industry claimed the top spot among lobbying spenders in 2018 — roughly $280 million — with no other industry coming close.$31.5 million Open Society Policy Center (aka George Soros' political slush fund) in 2018 aloneIn fact, Every firm in the top 10 has been around a long time with the exception of the Trump-tied Ballard Partners. The group took in more than $18 million last year despite being launched in 2017. More than doubling the NRA'S contribution.influencing elections, and buying off politicians — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The NRA spends millions poisoning our political discourse with hateful, conspiracy-fueled propaganda, blocking even modest reforms supported by 90% of American voters.Fake news. already addressed. They dont block popular things instead they just incessantly point out your bait and switch on these things.In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, the American people rallied for reform. President Obama suggested several serious legislative changes.Which even proponents admitted wouldnt have prevented the shooting.The Senate voted down an assault weapons ban.Because that is an absurdly unpopular topic and very few want another unpopular awb in this country. Knowing this even your fellow Democrats voted this down for fear of unemployment. again thats democracy.It rejected background checks proposal, even though 54 Senators from both parties voted for it, because of a right-wing-filibuster. These were the bare minimum steps we needed to take. And six years later, Congress still hasn’t done anythingAnd were rewarded by the public by being put into the majority in both houses of congress and the presidency not playing too well on your “its popular” argument.This pattern repeats itself throughout our government. When money and influence can override the will of a huge majority of Americans, that is corruption, pure and simple.I agree we should work to eliminate corruption. But you have just proven yourself unreliable on doing so by conflating the democratic process with corruption and declaring an effective non-actor the greatest villian of all time. youve been on the take from this corruption for decades, you have not a leg to stand on here.It’s time to fight back. I have proposed the most sweeping set of anticorruption reforms since Watergate — a set of big structural changes that includes ending lobbying as we know it and slamming shut the revolving door. My first priority when I’m elected President is to enact this package to get our government working for everyone againThe topic of the post was gun control. This is creeping too far beyond the question of the op.But anti-corruption legislation alone won’t be enough to get gun safety legislation done.Ok you aren't fooling anyone here. You can call it gun safety, but we all know it has nothing to do with safety. But rather just more gun control and gun bans. changing the name because people know what it means and genuinly hate it doesn't change that people hate it.After decades of inaction, Democrats have rallied behind a number of important gun reforms. If we continue to allow bought and paid for extremists in the Senate to thwart the will of the people, we will never enact any of them.Bought and paid for by the votes of the 1 in 3 americans who admit to pollsters have a gun, and vote accordingly?Enough is enough. Lasting gun reform requires the elimination of the filibuster.Because you cannot convince us to give you what you want, we must eliminate our democratic establishments and seperation of powers so you can just take and impose what you want? Thats whats known as tyranny. No thank you.Legislation to Reduce Gun ViolenceWhen I am president, I will send Congress comprehensive legislation containing our best ideas about what will work to reduce gun violence.You mean your ideas, they differ extremely from “our ideas”, and what the american population wants. And noting this I highly doubt it will work to do anything but ensure a republican majority in government for as long as we all live.It starts by ensuring that safe, responsible ownership is the standard for everyone who chooses to own a gun. We’ll do that by:Creating a federal licensing system. States with strict licensing requirements experience lower rates of gun trafficking and violence. A license is required to drive a car, and Congress should establish a similarly straightforward federal licensing system for the purchase of any type of firearm or ammunition.Nope. no way. ever. there will be no license to practice a right in This country. There will be no licence, and there will be no tax. You have already proven far, far, far too much bad faith to even ever consider this. No way. Ever.Requiring universal background checks. I’ll expand background checks via executive action — but Congress should act to permanently mandate universal background checks. And I’ll push Congress to close the so-called “Charleston loophole” that allows a sale to proceed after three days even if the background check is not complete.Again unconstitutional. And no f-ing way.Also THERE IS NO LOOPHOLE! Stop lying to us! If you need to lie we clearly dont want or need what you are trying to thrust onto us.Increasing taxes on gun manufacturers. Since 1919, the federal government has imposed an excise tax on manufacturers and importers of guns and ammunition. Handguns are taxed at 10% and other guns and ammunition are taxed at 11%. These taxes raise less in revenue than the federal excise tax on cigarettes, domestic wine, or even airline tickets. It’s time for Congress to raise those rates — to 30% on guns and 50% on ammunition — both to reduce new gun and ammunition sales overall and to bring in new federal revenue that we can use for gun violence prevention and enforcement of existing gun laws.So clearly people dont want this, its highly unpopular and likely unconstitutional. you cant get what you want through traditional means so you want to tax it out of our hands and keep it only in the hands of the wealthy. You cannot tax right. We will not tolerate this tyrany.Establishing a real waiting period. Waiting periods prevent impulsive gun violence, reducing gun suicides by 7–11% and gun homicides by 17%. Over the past 5 years, a national handgun waiting period would have stopped at least 4,550 gun deaths. The federal government should establish a one-week waiting period for all firearm purchases.So all this for 900 a year, which will probably just change their method, not results? I'll pass.Capping firearms purchases. About one out of four of firearms recovered at the scene of a crime were part of a bulk purchase. Congress should limit the number of guns that can be purchased to one per month, similar to a Virginia law that successfully reduced the likelihood of Virginia-bought guns being used in criminal activity.Citation needed, because this is bullshit. 9 out of 10 firearms used in crimes are obtained through criminal means, most through gangs waiting periods solve nothing.Creating a new federal anti-trafficking law. Congress should make clear that trafficking firearms or engaging in “straw purchases” — when an individual buys a gun on behalf of a prohibited purchaser — are federal crimes. This would give law enforcement new tools to crack down on gun trafficking and help keep guns out of the wrong hands.Already the law.Raising the minimum age for gun purchases. I’ll extend existing age requirements to virtually all sales, but federal law is currently conflicting — for example, a person must be 21 to purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, but only 18 to purchase a rifle. Congress should set the federal minimum age at 21 for all gun sales.So we restrict the rights of adults, who are old enough to vote, enlist in the military and marry because? Because I dont think this does anything but try to keep people from guns longer. Its likely unconstitutional, unreasonable and foolish.We can also do more to keep military-style assault weapons off our streets. We’ll do that by:Military assault weapons arent legally on our streets. Only civilian weapons. Your red herring is poorly constructed.Passing a new federal assault weapons ban.Because the last one failed so well.The 1994 federal assault weapons ban successfully reduced gun deathsNo it didn't, by the comissions own admission it had no measurable impact on crime. And the first mass shooting you listed occured during that ban.but was allowed to expire ten years later.Yes because it was unpopular and had no effect.Congress should again ban the future production, sale, and importation of military-style assault weapons, and require individuals already in possession of assault weapons to register them under the National Firearms Act. Just as we did successfully with machine guns after the passage of that law, we should establish a buyback program to allow those who wish to do so to return their weapon for safe disposal, and individuals who fail to register or return their assault weapon should face penalties.No it should not be reimplimented. And the Hughes amendment points to exactally why there will be no registration. We remember the nfa, we remember the hughes amendment, we will not go through that again.Banning high-capacity ammunition magazines. High-capacity magazines were used in 57% of mass shootings from 2009 to 2015, allowing the shooters to target large numbers of people without stopping to reload. Congress should enact a federal ban on large-capacity magazines for all firearms, setting reasonable limits on the lethality of these weapons.And used in 100% in self defense situtations. Used by 100% of cops. Has no effect (it was part of the 1994 awb and didnt work, because the guns arent the problem.Prohibiting accessories that make weapons more deadly. Gun manufacturers sell increasingly deadly gun accessories, including silencers, trigger cranks, and other mechanisms that increase the rate of fire or make semi-automatic weapons fully automatic. Congress should ban these dangerous accessories entirely.Parts that make semi autos full auto are already illegal, accessories like grips or barrel shrouds dont make a gun more deadly and dishonest made up crap like this is why there can be no discussion on this topic. Stop lying and misinforming so we can have an honest conversation.We should also do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of those at highest risk of violence. We’ll do that by:Im listeningPassing extreme risk protection laws. Extreme risk protection orders allow families and law enforcement to petition to temporarily restrict access to firearms for individuals in crisis or at elevated risk of harming themselves or others. Congress should pass a federal extreme risk law and create a grant system to incentivize states to enact their own laws that clearly define extreme risk.And im done. No f-ing way am I letting you strip me of my rights without due process. The way these laws are made they are too costly, burdensome and unfair to the accused with absolutly no safeguards to prevent abuse. They violate every tennant of our constitution and are absolutely intolerable.Prohibiting anyone convicted of a hate crime from owning a gun.Already the law. Stop straw manning.Too often, guns are used in acts of mass violence intended to provoke fear in minority communities; more than 10,000 hate crimes involve a gun every year. Any individual convicted of a hate crime should be permanently prohibited from owning a gun, full stop.Except there arent that many hate crimes every year. Strawman argumentProtecting survivors of domestic abuse. Domestic violence and gun violence are deeply connected — in an average month, more than 50 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. I’ll close the boyfriend loophole, but Congress should make that permanent, and expand the law to include individuals with restraining orders or who have been convicted of stalking.Already addressed this strawman paragraphs ago. There is no loophole, she has shelters to go to, and abusers of both genders are pieces of shit. Oh and studies have repeatedly found that women are the abuser 80% of the time.Securing our schools. Parents shouldn’t have to buy bullet-proof backpacks for their children — guns have no place on our campuses or in our schools. Congress should improve the Gun-Free School Zones Act to include college and university campuses, and apply to individuals licensed by a state or locality to carry a firearm.No guns on school campus since a 1993 federal law. It got 10 times worse since then, maybe we should look at repealing that failed policy, not doubling down. Also we shouldnt be depriving adults of Their rights just because they go to a place to learn. no dice.If we want real, long-lasting change, we must also hold the gun industry accountable, including online sites that look the other way when sellers abuse their platforms. We’ll do that by:Already addressed this, no, not gonna let you bog down gun manufacturers with frivolous lawsuits just because you dont like them and the broke no laws.Repealing the Potection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Nearly every other industry has civil liability as a check on irresponsible actions, but a 2005 law insulates firearms and dealers from civil liability when a weapon is used to commit a crime, even in cases when dealers were shockingly irresponsible. No one should be above the law, and that includes the gun industry. Congress should repeal this law, immediately.Again no, the manufacturer cannot be held liable for the misuse of their products. The same goes for every industry, not just guns. Not gonna allow the repeal here and would do nothing even if it was repealed.Holding gun manufacturers strictly liable for the harm they cause through a federal private right of action.Again no. manufactures cannot be held liable for misuse of their productsGun manufacturers make billions in profit by knowingly selling deadly products.Isnt that the point of a gun? Or a weapon in general. they broke no laws you cannt fault them.Then they are let completely off the hook when people take those deadly products and inflict harm on thousands of victims each year.Again not their fault criminals commit crimes and misuse their products.State tort law already recognizes that certain types of products and activities are so abnormally dangerous that the entities responsible for them should be held strictly liable when people are injured.Only when its built with a fault or flaw. Neither exists with guns. The bullet exiting the gun is the feature, not a flaw.Congress should codify that same principle at the federal level for guns by creating a new private right of action allowing survivors of gun violence to hold the manufacturer of the weapon that harmed them strictly liable for compensatory damages to the victim or their family.Again no, not opening up the door to frivolous law suits so you can sue out of business those whom you cannot ban.Strengthening ATF. The NRA has long sought to hobble the ATF, lobbying against staffing and funding increases for the agency and getting its congressional allies to impose absurd restrictions on its work even as the agency struggled to meet its basic responsibilities. Congress should fully fund ATF’s regulatory and compliance programs and remove the riders and restrictions that prevent it from doing its job.Because it has for too long abused its power and been overly corrupt and unaccountable. Have you forgotten ruby ridge already?Regulating firearms for consumer safety. Today there are no federal safety standards for firearms produced in the United States. We can recall unsafe products from trampolines to children’s pajamas — but not defective guns. Congress should repeal the provision of law that prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from regulating the safety of firearms and their accessories.All lies, there are safety standards. They're just in place for the guy behind the buttstock, not for the one at the end of the barrel For obvious reasons. Changing who has the power to regulate because you dont like the regulations (because they actually let things onto the market) is an obvious subverting of the law and consititution.Tightening oversight for gun dealers. Today there is no requirement for federally-licensed gun shops to take even simple steps to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. Congress should pass basic safety standards for federally-licensed gun dealers, including employee background checks, locked cabinets, and up-to-date inventories of the weapons they have in stock.Wrong. Lies. Has she not a single honest shread in her existance? Gun stores have to keep inventory, immaculate records and thousands of regulations. the atf checks othese all regularly and with surprise visits.Holding gun industry CEOs personally accountable. I’ve proposed a law that would impose criminal liability and jail time for corporate executives when their company is found guilty of a crime or their negligence causes severe harm to American families — and that includes gun industry CEOs.Already the law, or else not compatibale with existance. Thise responsible go to jail. Those who arent dont. You dont just get to imprison people because they run a business you dont like. usipeTragedies like the shootings we witnessed in El Paso and Dayton capture our attention and dominate the conversation about gun reform. But they’re just the tip of the iceberg of gun violence in America. Everyday, we lose one hundred Americans to gun violence, with hundreds more physically injured and countless more mentally and emotionally traumatized. And Black and Latinx Americans have borne the brunt of the gun violence tragedy in our country.Again lies already addressed. Is she so uncreative that she cannot even make up new lies to ne debunked?In the past, those statistics have been used to justify increased policing and strict sentencing laws. Communities already traumatized by gun violence were doubly victimized by policies that locked up their young people and threw away the key.So now its wrong to lock up the criminals who commit murder?We’ve got a chance to show that we’ve learned from the past and to chart a new path. It starts by acknowledging that gun violence is a public health crisis, one that cannot be solved solely by the criminal justice system.Again no it is not, it is a crime problem. stop blaming bullet wounds on bacteria.We can start to do that by investing in evidence-based community violence intervention programs.Evidence based. In other words the exact opposite of what you propose.Federal grant funding today focuses significantly on law enforcement and incarceration,Because they work.rather than interventions designed to stop gun violence before it occursMinority report is fiction. We cannot see the future.. The data in urban communities indicate that the majority of violence is perpetrated by a small number of offenders,A small number of individuals who, if removed, leave the community crimeless. Yet you have worked to undermine the efforts to remove them and what is the result? More crime, more death, and the Marjorie-Stoneman Douglas highschool shooting. Your policies created our criseese.and many cities have found success with programs that identify those at highest risk of becoming the victim or perpetrator of a violent gun crime, then employing strategies to interrupt the cycle of violence before it escalates.Like they did in Marjorie-Stonman Douglas?Programs that engage the surrounding community, employ mediation to prevent retaliation, build trust with law enforcement, and provide needed long-term social services have been proven to de-escalate tensions and dramatically reduce violence. As president, I’ll establish a grant program to invest in and pilot these types of evidence-based intervention programs at scale.So we can have more mass shootings? No thanks.Annual Research and Annual ReauthorizationHistorically, when Congress works to address big national issues, we don’t simply pass one law and cross our fingers.Since when? Seriously since when ever? And why dont you take the results of those studies into account before proposing another, say, assault weapons ban?Instead, we continue the research — into new policies and around the consequences of our existing policies — and then come back on a regular basis to update the lawBwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!Theres no way shes serious this basically never happens in government.We don’t do this with guns.To be fair we basically dont do this with anything.Not only have we not passed meaningful legislation in almost a generation, but thanks to the NRA, for decades Congress prohibited federal funding from being used to promote gun safety at all,Ok so… why are federal funds being used to promote partisan political issue that are unpopular?effectively freezing nearly all research on ways to reduce gun violence.Nope just prohibited propaganda. Research was still 100% allowedLast year, Congress finally clarified that the CDC could in fact conduct gun violence research — but provided no funding to do so.Actually that was 6 years ago, and they did plenty of research anyway. Including in the years right after the dickie amendment.This ends when I’m President. My budget will include an annual investment of $100 million for DOJ and HHS to conduct research into the root causes of gun violence and the most effective ways to prevent it, including by analyzing gun trafficking patterns, and researching new technologies to improve gun safety. These funds will also be used to study the reforms we enact — to see what’s working, what new ideas should be added, and what existing policies should be tweaked. And every year, I will send Congress an updated set of reforms based on this new information. That’s how we’ll meet our goal.And where will this money come from again? We have a trillion dollar deficit already.The conversation about gun violence in America is shiftingYeah, not in your favor though.— but not just because we’ve seen a spike in violence fueled by the NRA and the Trump administration’s dangerous policies and extremist rhetoric. It’s also because of the tireless work of activists, organizers, and community leaders who have been fighting for reform at the state and local level.You mean the big funded movements by dark political money, egged on by a one sided partisan media. And the “spiking violence” seems to be coming from left wing activist groups, dressed in black, attacking journalists, bystanders and everyone else they see. It's causing people to join the NRA and arm up.If you need proof that the majority of Americans support common sense gun reform, look at what’s happening in state legislatures and city councils across the country. Moms, students, and faith leaders have been packing hearing rooms and taking back spaces formerly reserved for NRA lobbyists. Survivors of mass shootings are doing the critical work of turning our attention to the daily gun violence in cities that doesn’t make headlines.And failing miserably to achieve anything of substance except create backlash.And it’s working. States that pass expanded background checks see lower rates of gun-related deaths and gun trafficking. States that disarm domestic abusers see lower rates of intimate partner gun violence. States with extreme risk laws have been successful in reducing gun suicides and have used them to prevent potential mass shootings. Community-based violence intervention programs are popping up in cities across the country.Which would be nice if literally any of that were true. But unfortunately the laws led no again measurable change in the crimes.Together, we can build on this momentum. We can build a grassroots movement to take back the Senate, eliminate the filibuster, and pass federal gun safety legislation that will save lives. And from the White House, I’ll make sure that the NRA and their cronies are held accountable with executive action. If we turn our heartbreak and our anger into action, I know we can take the power from the NRA and the lawmakers in their pockets and return it to the people.You lost senate seats because of this stuff. you have no momentum. the only democrat gains were made by moderates who opposed all of this.Warren is a fraud who went to college on a minority scholarship, and claimed to be native american despote having effectively nolineage with anytribe. This article is just more proff that she is incapable of honesty.Im just glad im finally at the end of the article. the bullcrap was heavy in this one.