Extortion and Blackmail Scandals

Attempted to extort a congressional candidate by threatening to release a potentially damaging secret recording he had of him unless he pressured a woman Johnson was having an affair with to deny its existence and then removed evidence from his office while officers were executing a search warrant against him

Attempted to extort a founder of investment firm Point Bridge Capital by threatening to use government connections (which did not exist) to retaliate against defense and intelligence companies strongly dependent on government contracts

Strongarmed leaders of a copper mining company into purchasing a large tract of land from a business associate who owed him money in exchange for him sponsoring legislation that would be favorable to the company, even once explicitly telling those involved "no Sandlin Property, no bill" and then failed to pay taxes on the $733,000 he received from the sale once the deal went through