Republican Abuse of Power Scandals List

Had sex with an intern in his private chambers and then later wrote her a letter of recommendation for a job in the local DA's office while also being a married father of two young children who ran on a platform highlighting the "importance of family" in his life

Had sex with an attorney who practiced in his court in his private chambers while also being a married father of two young children who ran on a platform highlighting the "importance of family" in his life

Took bribes including a free vacation to Thailand and a $11k luxury handbag from a military contractor when he was a captain in the Navy

Created a politicized special committee into the 2012 Benghazi attacks -- three years after the attacks happened -- that was designed to undermine Hillary Clinton's standing with the public just as she ramped up her Presidential campaign

Accepted a $25,000 cash bribe and plotted to acquire another $25,000 from a NY state senator once he followed through on a promise to use his position as Vice Chair of the Queens GOP to get the state senator on the Republican primary ballot for NYC mayor

Sold his home to a major Republican donor for more than three times its assessed value of $255,000 at the height of his reelection campaign

Spent tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds on private jets, automobiles, tickets to the Super Bowl, massages and cigars and many other things over a five-year period

Spent over $100,000 in taxpayer money renovating his Congressional office to resemble a room on the show "Downton Abbey"

Threatened to veto $7.5 million in state funding for an office that was investigating one of his signature projects for corruption unless the District Attorney leading it didn't resign after a DUI which would have been an unprecedented move, presumably after which he could replace her with someone more favorable to his interests

Operated his re-election campaign from his taxpayer-funded office in the state capitol and used government staff to help him raise money and do other campaign-related work

Illegally accepted $24,000 from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for giving them non-public information he had access to that helped the company financially

Accepted $12,400 in cash bribes in exchange for helping a health insurance broker keep their contract with a local school district

Illegally kept his ex-wife on his taxpayer-funded health insurance plan after they divorced resulting in her improperly getting medical benefits she wasn't entitled to and over $7k worth of prescription drugs at taxpayer expense

Charged local taxpayers to reimburse him $1,331 on expenses he spent entertaining a subordinate he was having an extramarital affair with and on rental cars he used to visit the woman and his wife on different weekends

Accepted $2,000 more than she legally was able to in campaign donations from an undercover agent posing as a business executive in exchange for expediting one of their development projects through the government certification process and didn't report the money in her election reports which state authorities assert is akin to stealing from her campaign

Pardoned a man who killed an 8-month-old boy in an alcohol-fueled crash who belongs to a politically connected family that donates a lot of money to Republicans

Pardoned a man convicted of shooting and killing his estranged wife and infant son and wounding another man less than twenty years into his life sentence

Pardoned a man convicted of shooting his girlfriend in the back and killing her at a public cafe just over ten years into his life sentence

Pardoned a man who shot his victim twice in the head at point blank range less than twenty years into a life sentence

Pardoned the brother of famed NFL quarterback Brett Favre who killed someone else in a drunk driving crash decades ago and had long since completed his sentence which makes you wonder if the only reason he pardoned him is because he's close with Favre

Pardoned a man convicted of soliciting sexually explicit messages from an underage girl after having a private lunch with a close friend of his family

Accepted $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 it

Pardoned a man convicted of killing a man with a cinder block and then buying his body in a shallow grave less than 9 years into his life sentence

Commuted the sentence of a man who later went on to kill four police officers execution style in Lakewood, WA in a crime that wouldn't have happened if the criminal had to complete his 95-year sentence for burglary and robbery

Had his parents pay his close friend and his friend's wife who he had an affair with $96,000 to keep them both quiet and used his influence to get his friend a corporate lobbying job, all of which resulted in him eventually resigning from the senate

Accepted 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 actions

Raked in at least $2.4 million in bribes in the form of cash, a home and a plethora of luxury gifts from defense contractors who he then awarded upwards of $40 billion worth of defense and intelligence contracts funded by the US taxpayer using his clout as a prominent member of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees

Accepted free vacations and construction services at his vacation home valued at $107,000 in exchange for directing state contracts to a prominent businessman and also failed to report the income on his taxes

Illegally obtained license plates without paying the required $758 fee and then altered public records to make it appear she paid it