Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., debuts on a watchdog group's list of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress.
The government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released its annual “Most Corrupt Members of Congress” list, a detailed analysis of the unethical and sometimes illegal activities of 15 congressmen and women who have most egregiously betrayed the public’s trust.
CREW also has launched the report’s tandem website, www.CREWsMostCorrupt.org, which offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions as well as the full-length profiles and all accompanying exhibits.
New to this year’s list are Senators Roland Burris and John Ensign, and Representatives Nathan Deal, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Pete Visclosky.
According to CREW, Jackson’s dealings with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich cemented his inclusion on the list:
On December 9, 2008, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested by federal agents for what was described at the time as a “political corruption crime spree.” One of the central allegations against the governor was that he attempted to sell an appointment to the Senate seat vacated by then President-elect Obama.
In the affidavit supporting the arrest of Gov. Blagojevich, the governor is quoted stating he believed a particular candidate, later identified as Rep. Jackson, would “raise money” for him and that “he might get some [money] upfront.” The governor also claimed an “emissary” from Rep. Jackson came to him and offered to raise a total of $1.5 million for his campaign should Rep. Jackson indeed be appointed to the vacant Senate seat. In fact, the day before the governor’s arrest, Rep. Jackson met with him to discuss the vacancy.
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) launched a “preliminary review of Rep. Jackson’s actions surrounding his bid for appointment to the Senate seat.” OCE asked Gov. Blagojevich’s former staffers and campaign aides to turn over correspondence between Rep. Jackson and the governor. Additionally, the Department of Justice has interviewed Rep. Jackson and subpoenaed individuals with knowledge of Rep. Jackson’s alleged effort to raise funds for Gov. Blagojevich. If Rep. Jackson offered then-Gov. Blagojevich anything of value, including campaign contributions, in exchange for an appointment to the vacant U.S. Senate seat, Rep. Jackson may have violated Illinois bribery law.
Rep. Jackson has denied any wrongdoing and says he is cooperating with both investigations. In the first half of 2009, his campaign committee paid $18,697 in legal fees in addition to $100,000 paid in December 2008.
Sen. Burris’ dealings with Blagojevich also lead to his inclusion on the corrupt lawmakers list. In the case of Sen. Ensign, CREW said:
On June 16, 2009, Senator John Ensign announced he had engaged in an extramarital affair with an unnamed former campaign staffer from December 2007 until August 2008. The staffer was later identified as Cynthia Hampton, whose husband Doug Hampton, was a close friend and top aide to the senator.
In a letter to FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly, Mr. Hampton stated that although the two families had been “lifelong friends,” Sen. Ensign pursued and engaged in a relationship with Mr. Hampton’s wife. He said Sen. Ensign’s “conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April 2008.” Mr. Hampton further stated that because of Sen. Ensign’s conduct, Mr. Hampton’s family “lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery.”
Cynthia Hampton was paid $1,885 a month, working for both Sen. Ensign’s campaign and his leadership political action committee, Battle Born PAC. In January 2008, a month after their affair began, Ms. Hampton’s salary doubled after she took on increased responsibilities with the re-election committee and took over as treasurer for the PAC. An individual close to Sen. Ensign’s family said that after the senator confessed the affair to his wife, reconciled with her and attended counseling, he fired Ms. Hampton, providing her with a severance payment paid from his own pocket.
Both Doug and Cynthia Hampton received payments from Sen. Ensign after leaving his employ. After his departure, Mr. Hampton received $6,000, an amount Sen. Ensign’s office claimed was “equal to 12 days of unused vacation,” and was not a severance package, an understanding confirmed by Mr. Hampton.
On July 8, 2009, Mr. Hampton said Sen. Ensign had personally paid Ms. Hampton over $25,000 in severance. Sen. Ensign’s attorney, Paul Coggins, quickly contradicted that claim, stating Sen. Ensign’s parents paid Ms. Hampton and her family $96,000 after they had learned of the affair. Mr. Coggins insisted the payments were not made from campaign or official funds, nor were they related to any campaign or official duties. Rather, he explained, the April 2008 payments were “gifts made out of concern for the well-being of long-time family friends during a difficult time.” Each of Sen. Ensign’s parents made out four checks in the amount of $12,000 to Cynthia Hampton, her husband and two of their children. Sen. Ensign’s office claimed the alleged $25,000 severance payment was part of his parents’ $96,000 “gift.”
Additionally, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Sen. Ensign chaired, paid the Hamptons’ 19-year-old son $1,000 a month from March through August 2008 for his work as an intern.
Sen. Ensign originally indicated he went public because he was being extorted. He later admitted, however, that he went public because he had learned Mr. Hampton had written to FOX News with details of the affair, asking the network to investigate the matter and downgraded the alleged extortion to a legal demand.
If, as it appears, Mr. and Ms. Hampton were discharged directly because of Ms. Hampton’s affair with the senator, Sen. Ensign may have engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Senate Rules. Additionally, the payments to the Hamptons may have been an unreported, illegal, excessive in-kind contribution to Ensign for Senate and Battle Born PAC in violation of campaign finance law.
After a two year absence, Rep. Maxine Waters has reappeared in the study for unethical activities unrelated to the conduct that landed her on the list in the past. A detailed list of those who have previously graced the report can be found on the website.
Of this year’s list of 15, at least 12 are under investigation: Reps. Ken Calvert, Jerry Lewis, Alan Mollohan, John Murtha, Pete Visclosky and Don Young are under Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, while Sens. Roland Burris and John Ensign and Reps. Charles Rangel and Laura Richardson are under congressional ethics committee investigations. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is under investigation by both the DOJ and the Office of Congressional Ethics and Rep. Vern Buchanan is being investigated by the Federal Election Commission.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, “With the economy in a free-fall, unemployment rates at record highs and health care solutions still nowhere in sight, members should be spending their time looking for answers to the nation’s problems, not finding new ways to enrich themselves.”
Sloan continued, “The members of Congress profiled in CREW’s Most Corrupt report have betrayed those who voted them into office. This report holds them accountable for their bad choices.”
The 15 most corrupt members of Congress are:
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Click here to visit CREWsMostCorrupt.org.
Editor’s note: This story was previously headlined, “Democrats Dominate Watchdog Group’s Most Corrupt Members of Congress List.” TPR reader Woody pointed out in the comments that the use of the word”dominate” was a bit strong considering that Democrats outnumber Republicans by just one. We agree with Woody and have changed our headline to simply reflect the fact that the list was released.
Wonderful article, well outlined and displayed.
“Dominate” is a bit strong, doncha think?
There are 8 Dims (1 Senator) and7 Pukes (i Senator) on the list.
It is distressing that so many [prominent lib/prog dims are on the list.
Judicial Watch has some damning evidence too, noone is safe from either of these watchdog groups efforts.
wow! Fox news school of journalism ya think? 4 of the top ten are Dems yet they “dominate”. Jackson Jr. is #6 yet his pic and story are the lead focus of your article? poor “reporting”
Thanks for re-publishing the list, but perhaps you should have read it before writing the article. Opening the article by saying that Democrats “dominate” the list is not only misleading, it’s actually untrue.
If you look at the raw numbers, there are more Dems on the list, but that should be expected given their majority in both houses. Percentage-wise it looks like this:
House- Dems 59% Reps 41%
Senate-Dems 57% Reps 40% (doesn’t add to 100% b/c 2 Independents and 1 Vacancy)
Congress Total- Dems 59% Reps 41%
If you take your list and find the percentages it looks like this:
House-Dems 58% Reps 42% (1% higher than their actual percentage in the House)
Senate- Dems 33% Reps 66% (26% higher than their actual percentage in the Senate)
Congress Total- Dems 53% Reps 47% (6% higher than their actual percentage of Congress)
So you see, my intrepid friends, if anyone “dominates” the list, it’s Republicans…
Thanks for your input Veronica. We will be updating the report.
No, don’t think so Veronica, they are both unethical and unworthy of holding office for the people, from Judicial Watch:
Last Updated: Wed, 09/16/2009 – 11:01am
A deadbeat California congresswoman who funded her political campaigns with money from foreclosed homes is behind the admonishment of a fellow lawmaker who interrupted a presidential speech.
Democrat Laura Richardson insisted South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson be disciplined after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed members to move on to more important issues. Wilson made worldwide headlines for shouting “You lie!” during Barack Obama’s health care address to a joint session of Congress and promptly apologized to the president for the outburst.
Obama accepted the apology, virtually all lawmakers from both parties—including Pelosi—were satisfied and everyone agreed to move on to more pressing issues. Not Richardson, however. She pushed Democrat leaders to take strong action, calling Wilson’s outburst “the elephant in the room that we had not dealt with” and implying that it was racially motivated because “this country has taken on a display of hate….”
The House subsequently passed a resolution of disapproval over Wilson’s conduct, making him the first member of Congress to ever be rebuked for such an outburst during a presidential speech. The two-page resolution says Wilson’s conduct was a breech of decorum that degraded the proceedings of a joint session. The resolution passed 240-179, mostly along party lines though 12 Democrats opposed it and seven Republicans supported it.
Ironically, the troubled and ethically challenged lawmaker behind the action has gone virtually unscathed by the House even though her wrongdoing has been well documented in news reports nationwide. Richardson borrowed $200,000 from three properties before defaulting on the loans and she owes the state she represents in the U.S. House thousands in property taxes. Richardson used the cash to finance her political career and claims she can’t repay the money even though her legislative annual salary is $169,300.
When Richardson, who represents parts of Los Angeles County’s poorest black neighborhoods, decided she wanted to get one of the foreclosed homes back, she abused her political power after a man had purchased it from the bank and begun renovating it. Richardson has been repeatedly fined by Sacramento’s code enforcement because the house, located in an upper middle class neighborhood, is an abandoned and rat-infested public nuisance.
A few months ago the laughable Office of Congressional Ethics supposedly launched an investigation into the rundown Sacramento house and the various shady deals that Richardson made to get it back. So far the panel has made a few calls to neighbors and the man who bought the house but was forced to return it by Richardson’s buddies at the bank.
Plenty more where that came from.
If readers click on the links of each lawmaker at the end of the article it will take you to a separate page where you can read their “charge sheets.”
This position tends to lend itself to people who know how to work the system, and do things they maybe shouldn’t do, so this doesn’t shock me.