Republican Legal Criminal Scandals

Lied 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 up his lie or invoke his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent

Engaged in an extramarital affair with fellow state representative Cindy Gamrat and then concocted a wild story that alleged he solicited a male prostitute to keep their affair from becoming public which he then lied about under oath to a state House committee investigating whether he used state resources to conceal the affair

Took 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 means

Falsely claimed a campaign donor's home was his official address in order to run for a state congressional seat in a district he didn't live in

Posted nude images of his wife on the internet without her consent in retaliation for a restraining order she filed against him for domestic violence

Tried 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 him

Falsely inflated his income and hid debts in mortgage applications to secure millions in loans which he otherwise wouldn't have been eligible for

Communicated 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 residence

Conspired to illegally collect and fill out unsuspecting voters absentee and mail-in ballots to help Republican candidates in the 2018 midterm election and later lied to federal authorities when they questioned him

Used a government-issued credit card for personal expenses including gasoline, claimed mileage for trips that he used a government-owned vehicle for over a yearslong period, pressured a witness to lie to federal investigators and lied to investigators himself

Publicly 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 agreement

Accepted 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 up

Lied to the FBI about his interactions with an agent of the Russian government while he was employed by the 2016 Trump campaign

Screamed "f*ck you!" to multiple library staff so loudly that he could be heard in the children's area on the other side of the building then refused a police officer's order to leave after staff called them for assistance resulting in him being banned from city libraries for one month

Sucker-punched someone in the back of the head and attempted to run away from the police but got caught

Blatantly 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 court

Solicited a stranger for sex in a department store bathroom by using a code (tapping his foot several times) and then exposed himself to the same person and later had to be tased and physically subdued by several police officers after he fought being placed under arrest

Voted 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 Authority

Illegally 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 up

Coerced a subordinate into taking an online certification course he personally would profit from with the help of his chief deputy who proctored the sham exam and submitted the results to state officials

Conspired 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 it

Repeatedly lied under oath and made false statements to the chief judge of a federal court by falsely claiming he had never hit, kicked, or punched his ex-wife when in fact he had done all three on multiple occasions

Illegally 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 it

Improperly intervened to facilitate the release of at least four undocumented immigrants who should have been turned over to federal officials at the request of business leaders in town who personally asked him to intervene while also being a "tough on crime" conservative

Illegally 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 witness

Threw a toilet lid at police officers and so violently resisted arrest that police had to deploy a stun gun to subdue him

Gave an illegal $20,000 campaign contribution to Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long using a "straw donor" and then lied to federal officials when they questioned him

Lied to state officials investigating a wide-ranging scandal involving state Republican Speaker Mike Hubbard and other legislators about his knowledge of Hubbard's actions and how it affected his political success or failure

Accepted 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 him

Threatened to kill his boss's campaign manager and her dog if she went through with testifying in her trial which scared her so much that she requested police protection from him

Urged his subordinate and woman he was having an extramarital affair with to lie to investigators about their sexual relationship

Illegally used campaign funds to pay for various personal expenses including gambling debts, membership fees in fishing clubs and carnival organizations and numerous other personal expenses for his family and then falsely reported to state officials that the expenses were for campaign-related activities

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

Lied 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"

Offered 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 assault

Lied 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 opposed

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

Lied on a sworn affidavit where he falsely claimed to have no assets in an attempt to have taxpayers pay for a court-appointed attorney to represent him at his trial when in reality he had more than enough assets and collateral to pay for his own attorney

Stole $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 reports

Threatened to murder a witness in his boss's bribery trial if they testified against her at trial