I must admit … I’ve really been enjoying following all the recent coverage of newly elected congressman George Santos. Or should I say Anthony Devolder, or perhaps Kitara Revache?
This all will undoubtedly go down as New York’s worst congressional scandal (though do check out George Horton, below). And that got me thinking … Who are the worst senators and congressmen from the other states? And, not just now, but overall?
And what constitutes “worst”? Though I was tempted to go with something nice and concrete like years in prison or money amounts, I opted with the ones that – kind of like with Santos – just made my jaw drop.
A little note on structure … Wikipedia actually has a page out there devoted to this stuff. So, all I did was search on the different scandals, pick out the one I liked best, and then simply just cut and paste what they had (with some italicization for the really juicy/telling/WTF details). Enjoy!
Scandal-free States
Hard to believe, but this is what Wikipedia is telling me, so it must be right.
- Alaska
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Idaho
Mike Crapo (R-ID) US Senator was arrested on December 23, 2012, and later pleaded guilty to drinking and driving in a Virginia court on January 4, 2012. The court fined him $250 and received a one-year suspension of his driver's license. He was also sentenced to 180 days in prison, but served no time.
Pronounced “cray-poh”
Rhode Island
James F. Simmons (R-RI) US Senator had confirmed corruption charges against him reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the charges were then referred to the full Senate for action on July 14, 1862. The Senate adjourned three days later without acting. Before it could reconvene, Simmons resigned on September 5, 1862.
2nd from right, thumbing his nose at a baby
Alabama
Frank W. 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 he was fined $40,000 total. He was pardoned by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.
Michigan
Charles Diggs (D-MI) was 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)
Maine
Donald F. Snow (R-ME) was committed to the Maine State Prison for two to four years for embezzlement. (1935)
New Jersey
Senator Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ) was convicted on nine counts of bribery and conspiracy, and was sentenced to three years in prison. (Abscam, 1980)
Harrison & friend
Virginia
Tom Garrett (R-VA) US Representative from Virginia's 5th District, was accused by four of his staff of using them for personal chores such as walking his dog and driving his kids. An investigation was begun, after which Garrett suddenly announced he was an alcoholic and would not seek re-election. (2018)
“Lemme say thish abou’ that”
Kansas
Alexander Caldwell (R-KS) US Senator, was elected to the US Senate. It was discovered that his rival candidate, Thomas Carney, dropped out of the race, admitting that he had accepted a bribe of $15,000 to leave the race allowing Caldwell to win. He was impeached and the US Senate declared that Caldwell had not been "duly and legally elected" and moved to expel him. Before a vote could be taken, Caldwell resigned (1873)
Arizona
Rick Renzi (R-AZ) US Representative 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.
“You talkin’ to me?”
Nevada
Jim Gibbons (R-NV) US House of Representatives from the 2nd District was campaigning for Governor when he walked waitress Chrissy Mazzeo to her car. She claimed he threw her against a wall and threatened to sexually assault her. He claimed she tripped and he caught her. The civil lawsuit was settled by the payment of $50,000 to Mazzeo. Six weeks later he was elected governor. (2006)
Bye Felicia
Arkansas
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.
South Dakota
Bill Janklow (R-SD) was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. He resigned from the House and was given 100 days in the county jail and three years' probation (2003)
Nuthin like a good perp walk
Georgia
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 leading to his eventual resignation from office. (1997)
Newt and friend
Utah
Douglas R. 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.
Indiana
Dan Burton (R-IN) US Representative and a combative critic of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, admitted that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. (1998)
North Carolina
Ron A. Taylor (D-NC) US Representative from the 11th District, was accused of bribery and burning four tobacco warehouses of his political rival, Democratic State Senator J. J. Harrington. Taylor resigned his position and pled guilty to conspiracy as well as bribery. He served four years in prison. (1977)
Google Images let me down on this one
Florida
Richard Kelly (R-FL) accepted $25K and then claimed he was conducting his own investigation into corruption. Served 13 months. (Abscam, 1980)
Nebraska
Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) US Representative from Lincoln in the 1st District, was indicted for making false and misleading statements to the FBI about the source of $189,000 in campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. When found guilty he resigned. He was then sentenced to two years probation, fined $25,000 and given community service. (2021)
Bye Felicia
Montana
Greg Gianforte (R-MT) US Representative, body slammed reporter Ben Jacobs. Gianforte was then found guilty of assault and sentenced to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management, a 180-day deferred sentence, a $385 fine and court fee. As part of his settlement with Jacobs, Gianforte donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. (2017)
Oregon
Bob Packwood (R-OR) was accused of sexual misconduct by nineteen women. He fought the allegations, but eventually, the US Senate Ethics Committee found him guilty of a "pattern of abuse of his position of power and authority" and recommended that he be expelled from the Senate. He resigned on September 7, 1995.
New Hampshire
H. Styles Bridges (R-NH) US Senator, during the Lavender Scare of the 1950s, Bridges threatened to expose the son of US Senator Lester Hunt (D-WY) as a homosexual unless Hunt immediately resigned from the Senate, thus giving Republicans the majority. Hunt refused, but did not seek re-election and then shot himself. (1954)
Pennsylvania
Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA) US Representative, the married, anti-abortion congressman resigned just before an investigation could begin concerning his allegedly urging his mistress to seek an abortion. (2017)
Kentucky
Matthew Lyon (Democratic-Republican KY) was the first Congressman recommended for censure for spitting on Ralph Griswold (Federalist-CT). The censure failed to pass. Also found guilty of violating John Adams's Alien and Sedition Acts and sentenced to four months in jail, during which he was re-elected. (1798)
Louisiana
David Vitter (R-LA) US Senator, Vitters' name was discovered in the address book of DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey. He admitted his adultery and lost his race for governor. (2007)
“Stand by your man …”
Texas
Van Taylor (R-TX) US Representative and married with three children, was accused of having a nine-month affair with Tania Joya who was once married to a Commander for the Islamic State and has been referred to as the “Isis Bride.” Taylor allegedly paid Joya $5,000 to keep quiet. The news was leaked during the Republican primary for his seat, causing Taylor to admit to the affair and withdraw from the campaign. (2022)
California
Katie Hill (D-CA) U.S. Representative, resigned following the start of a House Ethics Committee investigation involving Hill's alleged improper relationship with a male subordinate. After the investigation's announcement, Hill also admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a female campaign staffer. She resigned. (2019)
New York
Frank Horton (R-NY) pleaded guilty to a DWI (arrested at 105 mph with two women; neither were his wife) and was sentenced to 11 days in jail. (1976)
South Carolina
Preston Brooks (D-SC) US Representative and fervent advocate of slavery, beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA), until his cane broke, leaving him bleeding and unconscious on the floor of the House of Representatives. (1856)
Tennessee
Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) U.S. Representative, while running for re-election on an anti-abortion platform, it was discovered that he had made his wife have two abortions, and tried to persuade his mistress (who was also his patient), to have one as well. He also admitted under oath that while a married physician at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee, he had six affairs with three co-workers, two patients and a drug representative. He was investigated by the Tennessee Board of Health, pleaded guilty and was fined.
You sure he’s allowed around interns?
Maryland
Robert E. Bauman (R-MD) US Representative, was charged with soliciting sex from a teenage boy in a gay bar. After counseling, the charges were dropped, but he lost his next two elections. (1980)
Ohio
Donald E. "Buz" Lukens (R-OH) was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for having sex with a 16-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $500. (1989)
I’m sure he had no comment
Illinois
Dennis Hastert (R-IL) US Representative, pleaded 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 underage boy from his days as a high school wrestling coach, from 1965 to 1981. (2015)
Massachusetts
Barney Frank (D-MA) US Representative, lived with convicted felon Steve Gobie, who ran a gay prostitution operation from Frank's apartment without his knowledge. (1987)
Pretend you didn’t see that
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