Politicians Caught In Infamous Government Scandals - Page 12

The hoopla of 2014’s mid-term elections came with its share of bizarre behavior. In Washington D.C., city councilman David Catania’s team ran a series of ads linking disgraced former mayor Marion Barry with Democratic candidate Muriel Bowser. But the strategy didn’t work, and Bowser ultimately won.

Barry’s name will likely always live on in infamy in D.C. due to his “rocky” substance abuse issues, but his indiscretions almost seem small in comparison to some of his peers. Hit the jump for a list of politicians caught in infamous government scandals to see just how shameful your elected officials can get.

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There were calls in impeach 42nd president Bill Clinton after he attempted to cover up receiving fellatio from a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky in 1995. Nearly three years later, after the case worked its way up to the Supreme Court, Clinton admitted to an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky.

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After his tough stance against businesspeople earned him the nickname, “The Steamroller,” former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was the one flattened by negative press. After attempting to quietly make payments to the Emperors Club VIP escort service, Spitzer was exposed as a client of a high-end prostitution ring when he was caught on a federal wiretap.

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Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence for political corruption after attempting to sell former Illinois Senator and current President Barack Obama’s Senate seats in 2008.

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Some called him the “Hip-Hop Mayor,” but we don’t really claim Kwame Kilpatrick like that. Kilpatrick was found guilty of 24 counts of political corruption in March 2013, including racketeering and conspiracy. He’s in the midst of a 28-year bid.

After the FBI established the 1972 Watergate Hotel break-in stemmed from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of his reelection effort, President Richard M. Nixon became the first sitting U.S. President to resign.

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They called him “Wide Stance.” Former Idaho Senator Larry Craig was pretty much shamed out of office after pleading to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in 2007. Months earlier Washington-based newspaper Roll Call published the sordid details of his bathroom sexual encounters facilitated by signals and foot gestures.

They kept lying about it to the public and to Congress, but members of the Reagan Administration (and President Reagan himself…sort of) finally admitted to supporting militant contra rebels in Nicaragua and selling arms to a hostile Iranian government during the Iran-Contra Affair.

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John Edwards was once on the fast track to the White House. But after hiring producer Rielle Hunter to film his 2008 failed presidential run, Edwards was exposed for fathering a love child with Hunter behind the back of his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth. To add insult to injury, Edwards was indicted for using hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to hide Hunter during the 2008 race.

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In 1969, Ted Kennedy was slapped with a two-month suspended sentence for accidentally driving off a bridge. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne drowned at the scene, and Kennedy didn’t report the accident until 10 hours later while hiding at the Kennedy family compound.

In August of 2013, 67-year-old great grandmother Peggy Shannon became the sixteenth woman to come forward with sexual allegations against then San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. After six weeks of accusations from various women, Filner eventually resigned.

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Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner might be the poster child for sexting gone wrong. Weiner was busted for tweeting his junk and lying about it in 2011. He resigned from Congress four days after TMZ published half-naked selfies of Weiner in a locker room.

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Marion Barry served a six-month prison term after FBI agents taped him smoking crack cocaine in a hotel room in 1990. In 1992 Barry ran for and won a city-council seat under the slogan, “He May Not Be Perfect, But He’s Perfect for D.C.” You can’t make this stuff up.

Crack was still a fairly new drug when Marion Barry was caught hitting the pipe in 1990. But there was really no good reason for Toronto, Ontario Mayor Rob Ford to be caught beaming up to Scotty. Twice.