Obstruction of Justice Scandals
Scandal Categories
Displaying 60 Scandals
Sorted by When News Broke
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m5/07/24Criticized the jury in his criminal hush-money case during an interview in violation of a gag order imposed by the judge and was fined $1,000 and warned that his next violation may result in jail timeBlatantly and repeatedly violated a gag order which prohibited him from verbally attacking witnesses, jurors and family members of court staff in his New York hush money trial and was ordered to remove all posts that ran afoul of the gag order and pay a $9,000 fine by the judge who held him in contemptAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets4/22/24Promised to pardon his personal aide and "body man" Walt Nauta if he was convicted of lying to the FBI about his knowledge of Trump's illegal retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago if he becomes President againFirsthand account from a confidential witness who spoke with the FBI about their interactions with Trump
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Allen WeisselbergCFO [R-NY]4/10/24Lied under oath in a deposition and also at trial about his role in falsely asserting that Trump's private apartment in Trump Tower was nearly three times larger than it actually was on official tax formsAccording to charging documents filed by state officials
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10/20/23Illegally obtained over $45,000 in Small Business Covid-Relief Funds out of $150,000 he applied for by claiming that dormant companies he owned with no employees actually had 6 employees and revenue of $800k and then lied to federal agents when they questioned him about itAccording to charging documents filed by federal prosecutors
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m9/19/23Urged his longtime personal assistant to lie to federal authorities investigating his illegal retention of classified documents by telling her point-blank "you don't know anything about the boxes" which CNN chief legal analyst Elie Honig characterized as "textbook obstruction of justice" and "textbook witness tampering" that has the protentional to be "really devastating" for TrumpAccording to an exclusive report by ABC News
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Harry SidhuFmr. Mayor [R-CA]20 Years in GOPLying to the "Feds", Egregious Conflict of Interest, Misuse of Government Resources for Political Gain8/16/23Took advantage of his position as mayor to muscle himself onto a negotiating team involved with a $320 million MLB stadium project and later shared confidential information with the owner of the team with the expectation of getting "at least" a million-dollar political donation in return and then lied to federal agents when they questioned him about itAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m8/14/23Brazenly called for the former Lt. Governor of Georgia to refuse to testify before a grand jury criminally investigating him for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state which multiple legal experts characterized as "witness tampering in real time"According to a Truth Social post written by Trump and reported by mainstream outlets
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8/12/23Brazenly and publicly refused a judge's order to appear in court and face defamation charges brought against him by a local hospitalAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Ed MullinsFmr. NYPD Union President8/03/23Stole roughly $1 million from a NYC police officers union by filing falsified expense reports for personal items including lavish meals and luxury clothing and over-inflating the amount he should be reimbursed for countless other expenses for over four years to such a degree that prosecutors described it as a "personal piggy bank" and then lied to federal officials when they confronted himAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m7/27/23Ordered a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker to move and hide 64 boxes filled with highly classified and sensitive information after receiving a subpoena that ordered him to return all government documents in his possessionAccording to charging documents filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith6/09/23Pressured his personal attorney Evan Corcoran to lie to investigators about classified documents illegally in his possession and further asked, "what happens if we just don't respond at all or don't play ball with them"According to charging documents filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith
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Walt NautaTrump "Bodyman"6/09/23Hid boxes filled with classified and highly sensitive government documents after his boss Donald Trump was subpoenaed for them which were later found when the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago and then lied to federal agents when they questioned him about itAccording to charging documents filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m6/09/23Ordered his personal aide and "body man" Walt Nauta to move and hide 64 boxes filled with highly classified and sensitive information after receiving a subpoena that ordered him to return all government documents in his possession6/09/23Stored top-secret and classified documents he illegally took with him to Mar-a-Lago at the conclusion of his term in his unsecured office, bathroom, bedroom, ballroom and storage room in plain view for tens of thousands of guests and potential US adversaries to see and lied to his own attorneys about his knowledge of any classified documents in his possession which resulted in his lawyer unwittingly submitting a false sworn certification of that fact to federal investigatorsAccording to charging documents filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith6/05/23Was possibly complicit in having a surveillance video storage room "accidentally" flooded in a failed attempt to cover up crimes with classified documents (the FBI recovered incriminating video anyways), or it is a total coincidence that a maintenance worker -- not just any worker but one who previously helped Trump's aide move boxes with classified documents -- would be careless enough to drain a pool damaging a room at a $200k initiation fee resort that contained additional videos the FBI had an active subpoena forAccording to an exclusive report by CNN
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Tina PetersCounty Clerk [R-CO]5k5/06/23Illegally taped a court proceeding for her former chief deputy while seated in the gallery and then lied to the presiding judge when he confronted herAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Donald JonesSheriff [R-KY]5/01/23Coached a witness to subvert justice and achieve a legal outcome he supposedly desired by giving them false information that prosecutors contend was meant to affect their testimonyAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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4/17/23Pressured a sexual abuse victim's elderly parents to convince their son to retract his accusation that he knew about rampant sexual abuse by a team doctor he worked with and turned a blind eye to it for yearsAccording to an investigative report by The New York Times
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Tina PetersCounty Clerk [R-CO]5k3/04/23Refused repeated police commands to hand over an iPad they had a search warrant for and then "actively" resisted the officers as they placed her in handcuffsAccording to an arrest report filed by local police
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Nate PaulConservative Businessman [R]3/04/23Lied to a judge under oath about financial transfers he made in violation of a previous court order which resulted in a judge sentencing him to 10 days in jail and fining him $181,760According to a ruling by the judge presiding over his criminal case
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George SantosFmr. U.S. Representative697k697kMAGA Enthusiast2/24/23Lied to a judge about working for Goldman Sachs during a bail hearing for a friend who was accused of fraudAccording to court documents obtained by Politico
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m2/14/23Refused to comply with a subpoena from NY Attorney General that demanded he turn over certain business records and was fined $10,000 a day and $110,000 in total by the judge who held him in contemptAccording to a final ruling by an appeals court
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Jeremy HutchinsonFmr. State Senator [R-AR]24 Years in GOP12/30/22Failed to pay over $625k in court-ordered child support even after a judge found he easily had the finances to do so and was held in contempt of court and jailed until he paid it off in fullAccording to court documents reported by local newspapers
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Julianna StroutCommissioner [R-FL]10/27/22Falsely asserted she was a paralegal to federal authorities so she could enter an immigration detention facility her romantic partner was being held atShe pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and probation
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Kellye SoRelleOath Keepers Lawyer9/01/22Encouraged potential suspects and other witnesses to destroy evidence and lie to a federal grand jury investigating members of the far-right domestic terrorist group Oath Keepers and their involvement in the 1/6 insurrection in messages on an encrypted chat messaging boardAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Bubba JonesFmr. Sheriff [R-KY]8/11/22Was indicted for official misconduct in office and tampering with a witness in an apparent attempt to cover his tracksAccording to a plea deal reached with state authorities
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Paul ManniFmr. City Council Nominee8/09/22Forged signatures on at least nine absentee voter applications for people who were unaware he was submitting the request and lied to the county clerk by attesting he had permission to deliver the applicationsAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Steve BannonFmr. Trump Chief StrategistLauded by Trump7/22/22Defied a Congressional subpoena requiring him to testify before the 1/6 Committee using specious claims of executive privilege and was sentenced to 4 months in jailAccording to a federal jury who found him guilty of contempt of Congress
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Ryan WhiteFmr. U.S. Senate Candidate7/20/22Filed a false police report erroneously claiming that a young child was being forced to perform sex acts on male customers at an adult bookstore he worked at which resulted in police using up valuable resources and time to investigate his accusationAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m7/12/22Personally attempted to contact a 1/6 Committee witness presumably to pressure them to not disclose any damaging information about him when they testified before the committeeAccording to the 1/6 Select Committee6/18/22Strongly hinted that he would pardon people convicted of crimes related to the 1/6 insurrection by saying he'll be "looking at them very, very seriously," but only if they didn't cooperate with authoritiesAccording to a speech he gave that was covered by multiple outlets
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306kMAGA Enthusiast6/06/22Defied a Congressional subpoena requiring him to testify before the January 6th Committee by citing legally dubious claims of executive privilegeAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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4/07/22Showed his disdain for the criminal justice system by having the audacity to assert that hours spent working on his political campaign counted towards the 40 hours of community service he was ordered to serve following a 2020 trespassing convictionAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Jeff FortenberryFmr. U.S. Representative10/19/21Accepted a $30,200 campaign contribution from Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury through three "straw donors" and then lied to federal authorities after they confronted him about itAccording to charging documents filed by federal authorities
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Ivan GonzalezFmr. Mayor Candidate [R-MD]8/20/21Falsely asserted he lived in the city of Baltimore on his official candidacy paperwork when he actually lived in the suburbs and was therefore ineligible to run for office in the cityAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Mitchell EnglanderFmr. City Council Member1/25/21Schemed to cover up evidence of his acceptance of bribes by lying to federal authorities who confronted him and "counseled" his coconspirator how to mislead federal investigators on multiple occasions without knowing that he was working as a cooperating witnessAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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1.2mMAGA Enthusiast11/15/19Lied under oath to the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with WikiLeaks around the time they released stolen emails the Russian government hacked from Hillary Clinton's server, falsely named Randy Credico as his "back-channel" to the head of WikiLeaks in a subsequent letter to the committee and then urged Credico to either back him up or invoke his Fifth Amendment right to stay silentStone was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, but Trump commuted his sentence days before he was to report to prison
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Travis BrauerFmr. Political Aide [R-OK]8/14/19Took photos or a video up a woman's skirt while she was seated at a state House legislative meeting and later destroyed his mobile phone after searching "how to completely wipe a phone before police" in a failed attempt to delete evidence which police were able to recover through other meansAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Richard QuinnGOP Political Consultant4/18/19Repeatedly lied under oath to the grand jury investigating a wide-ranging State House corruption scandal that involved his own son in an act that violated a plea agreement he made with state prosecutors to truthfully testify before the groupAccording to a grand jury indictment
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Robin HayesFmr. North Carolina GOP Chair4/02/19Tried to bribe the NC state insurance commissioner with a $1.5 million donation to his reelection bid and another $250k donation from the NC Republican party in exchange for favorable treatment for a business associate friend of his and then lied to the FBI when they confronted himAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Donald Trump45th U.S. President162.3m3/13/19Communicated through close intermediaries to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen that he would pardon him if he didn't cooperate with prosecutors and provide them with potentially damaging information about his business and financial dealings days after the FBI raided Cohen's office and residenceAccording to the text of two emails obtained by CNNPublicly signaled he would pardon his former campaign manager Paul Manafort if he refused to cooperate with the Mueller investigation after it was reported Manafort repeatedly lied to federal investigators in violation of his earlier plea agreementAccording to an interview Trump gave with the New York Post
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Jim HarrisonFmr. State Representative10/26/18Accepted over $900,000 from a well-connected political consultant in exchange for acting in his client's interests in secret by not disclosing the true source of the funds as required by state law and later lied to a grand jury about it in an attempt to cover it upHe was found guilty and sentenced to eighteen months in prison
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Allen LoughryFmr. Justice [R-WV]6/20/18Used a government-issued credit card for personal expenses including gasoline, claimed mileage for trips that he used a government-owned vehicle for, pressured a witness to lie to federal investigators and lied to investigators himselfAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Joe ArpaioFmr. Sheriff [R-AZ]7/31/17Blatantly disregarded a new law that prevented the targeting of people of Latino descent showing complete disdain for "law and order" while also having had espoused excessive over-the-top rhetoric that claimed the opposite and was found guilty of criminal contempt of courtHe was convicted of criminal contempt but was pardoned by Donald Trump before being sentenced
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Don LeemanFmr. State Rep. Candidate5/03/17Voted in a district he no longer resided in and later unsuccessfully tried to bribe a local Housing Authority employee into falsifying a letter to election officials that attested he had only temporarily moved out of the district in exchange for a donation to the county Housing AuthorityAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Jesse BentonFmr. Rand Paul Campaign Manager5/05/16Illegally paid Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson $73,000 to switch his 2016 Presidential candidate endorsement from Michelle Bachmann to Ron Paul and then falsified campaign reports to cover it upAccording to a federal jury who convicted him
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Thad ViersFmr. State Representative10/20/15Conspired with a business executive to hide $524,000 in assets owed to an insurance company that was then left on the hook for a $6 million contract his coconspirator failed to fulfill and then intentionally lied to an IRS investigator when questioned about itAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Mark FullerFmr. Federal Judge [R]9/05/15Repeatedly lied under oath and made false statements to the chief judge of a federal court by falsely claiming her had never hit, kicked, or punched his ex-wife when in fact he had done all three on multiple occasionsAccording to a report conducted by federal officials submitted to Congress
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Dennis HastertFmr. Speaker of the House6/01/15Illegally structured hush money payments of $1.7 million to elude federal bank reporting requirements in order to hide the fact he was paying the victim of his past sex crimes and then lied to Federal investigators about itHe pled guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine
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Ben SuarezConservative Businessman [R]11/14/14Illegally used his family, employees and friends as "straw donors" to donate $100k each to two political candidates and later interfered with the criminal case by attempting to influence a government witnessAccording to charging documents filed by federal prosecutors
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Mark SiljanderFmr. U.S. Representative1/12/12Accepted 50k to secretly and illegally lobby for the USA to remove a sanctioned organization from the "specially designated global terrorist" list and then lied to the FBI when they questioned himAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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1.2mMAGA Enthusiast2/18/10Accepted $255,000 worth of lavish home renovations and over $236,000 in rental payments from billionaire business developer Eitan Wertheimer in exchange for using his position as NYPD Commissioner to lobby on Wertheimer's behalf with city officials, failed to report the additional income on his federal taxes and lied to federal investigators when confronted about itHe pleaded guilty to tax fraud and was sentenced to 4 years in prison
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Samuel KentFmr. George H W Bush Federal Judge5/11/09Lied to a committee of judges investigating him for sexual harassment in an effort to shield himself from consequences for his behavior in what one law professor characterized as "sort of mind-blowing" for a federal judge to obstruct justice as it "betrayed his oath in the most fundamental way"According to court records reported by the media
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Ted KlaudtFmr. State Representative11/10/07Offered to forgive one of his sexual assault victim's debt owed to him if her mother agreed to not pursue charges against him and urged another victim to lie to the police when they questioned her about his assaultAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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J. Steven GrilesFmr. Interior Deputy Secretary6/26/07Lied under oath to a Senate committee about his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff by falsely testifying that he had no special relationship with him when in fact he was intimately involved in blocking the approval of a Native American casino that Abramoff opposedAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Bob NeyFmr. U.S. Representative1/18/07Accepted over $170k worth of international and domestic trips, meals and drinks totaling "many thousands of dollars," tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, box suite tickets to concerts and sporting events and numerous free fundraisers paid for by Jack Abramoff in exchange for supporting and/or opposing legislation that would benefit Abramoff and then lied under oath to a congressional committee when questioned about his actionsAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Gerald HegeFmr. Sheriff [R-NC]9/20/03Stole $6,200 dollars from the sheriff department's bank account which he used to pay for his re-election parties in 1998 and 2002 and to reimburse an employee for a travel expense and then obstructed justice by attempting to cover his tracks on expense reportsAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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