Why Did Jefferson Hide The Money In The Freezer

“A crook is a crook, and there’s something healthy about his frankness in the matter. But any guy who pretends he is enforcing the law and steals on his authority is a swell snake. The worst type of these punks is the big politician. You can only get a little of his time because he spends so much time covering up that no one will know that he is a thief. A hard-working crook will-and can-get those birds by the dozen, but right clown in his heart he won’t depend on them-hates the sight of them.” -Al Capone

One of the biggest issues with a representative democracy is that it’s very easy to influence or bribe the officials. As a result, the bribers nearly always have the officials on their side. These bribes are in the form of campaign donations. An example of this “bribery” would be

The controversy surrounding political lobbying does not question the act of influencing public officials, but rather the ethics relating to how these public officials are influenced. It is important to distinguish the fine line between bribery and lobbying. It is illegal to bribe a public official in the United States. This would mean that an individual could not provide compensation to a public official for them to behave, or vote, in a specific manner. Lobbyists may donate money to a specific candidate’s political campaign, but they may only do so when there is no expectation that the public official will behave in a favorable way toward the lobbyist or their clients (Mackinder). Lobbyists may bring public officials, their immediate families, and staff on trips or out to dinner. While it is illegal for a lobbyist representing a corporate client from directly bringing, it is not illegal for foreign governments to sponsor for these said trips (Goldmacher). What has begun to happen is lobbyists representing corporate clients may bring public officials on these trips, if the trip is sponsored by a foreign government. The Senate Office of Public Records reported that $3.23 billion was spent on lobbying in 2013, with 12,300 registered lobbyists. Professor James Thurber, who teaches at American University, has studied congressional lobbying for over 30 years, and does not believe these figures are accurate. He believes

Stephen Medvic, In Defense of Politicians, discusses why Americans feel that politicians are dishonest. In 2007, a Gallup poll about honesty and ethical standards for occupations, showed that only 12 and 9 percent of people felt that Congressmen and State office holders held high standards, (Medvic p. 2). In addition, Americans tend to like their representatives more than the members of Congress because they view them as actual people. Americans view Congress as a group of politicians who are greedy and not representing their interests, (Medvic p. 4).

One of the issues I am most passionate about is that of money in American politics. Increasing campaign costs, coupled with a decrease in the number of donors contributing to those campaigns, is a disturbing trend which has caused many to feel the need to question the state of our democracy—myself included. The problem of mainstream political corruption and legalized bribery is one that I was made aware of three years ago, and has since become one of the things keeping me up at night most often.

Corruption has no place in our government, period. The American people have a right to hold their elected officials to high ethical standards, and when their elected officials fail to meet such standards, the people have a responsibility to hold them accountable. In addition to standing for election every two years, Congress has ethics committee procedures it can utilize to censure or otherwise reprimand members who violate the rules. Members of Congress have to abide by the same laws as everyone else, and when laws are broken, they should be held accountable.

He used his position as a member in the Ways and Means committee as his primary resource to bribe U.S. companies that worked on oil, communications, and sugar, including others to fund for ‘projects’ in Africa. In return he promised to promote the companies, which would ultimately increase their profits. The FBI began to look at William J. Jefferson in 2005 when they had received information that he was using his position in the House to solicit bribes from U.S. companies to Africa. It is calculated that Jefferson had earned approximately $400,000 to $500,000. In one case the FBI had footage of Jefferson receiving $100,000 to pay off an African government official from a cooperative witness. As a result, within days the FBI had a search warrant for Jefferson’s home. Upon searching they found $90,000 in his freezer which were wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a dessert box. When searching his office, they were able to obtain documents that were served later used as evidence for his bribery schemes. Through the use of witnesses that were cooperative, phone recordings, video surveillance monitoring, and financial records analysis form the FBI enough evidence was compiled to charge William J. Jefferson for bribery, racketeering ( fraudulent business earnings ), and money

Bribery weakens competition and diminishes free trade which can affect companies, shareholders, and stakeholders. Jacob Franklin knowingly extended bribes to governments and contractors while knowing it was against company policy. Jacob engaged in bribery even though he knew it was wrong because he was advised that it was common practice at Richard Drilling. “In 1977, President Carter signed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The law made it illegal to bribe foreign officials. The maximum punishments for violators were set at $100,000 and 5 years in jail. Companies can be fined millions” (Bredeson, 2012, p.301). Not only was extending the bribe against company policy, it was against law and could cost Jacob and Richardson Drilling money and freedom.

What is our safeguard against corruption performed by federal officeholders? It is impeachment. Impeachment is the Constitutional power given to the House of Representatives to remove a federal officeholder from office. “Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says, ‘The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’." (Longley). The power of impeachment has historical significance as only four times in our history has Congress had serious discussions of impeachment. Due to the requirement of a ruling vote from the House of Representatives and the Senate, there are issues and complications

It caused a problem because their clients slipped away from their control so they bribed everyone in hope that will elect them. Then, we could also illustrate this example with the case of Marius in 116 BC who came to power through bribery. He was accused of corruption for the praetorship as he was the least expected but came to power anyway. He barely won acquittal on this

In society nowadays, it seems as if corruption is always in the headlines. From political officials being degraded in the lust of money, to even leading businesses and exceptionally performed athletes. Every powerful person out there falls into the trap of financial success. In order to be the best, one must also have the most wealth right? Why is there such a thin line between honesty and success? Often people fall into a facade that once they're in a higher position, they must do whatever it takes, often lie, to remain in that position. Former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was sentenced the fourteen years in prison, after being found guilty in many corruption scandals. Prior to the spread of his scandals, the citizens of Illinois

The paper will focus on the circumstantial proof that suggests that voting by politicians in the congress is inclined towards those who have donated money to their campaigns. Strong emphasis will be paid to evidence that shows that congressional votes are swayed in favor of the donors. Certain reforms that were made in the financing process to control corruption would be explained and effectiveness of these articles would be evaluated in light of the available evidence. Moreover scholarly articles on the ways in which contributors bypass the laws limiting financial contribution will also be given due weight in the paper. Negative impact of such practices in congress on the society and democratic concept is also evaluated in the

It is the norm and not the exception. Therefore as with any epidemic, the cure must be systemic instead of localized. First, the source of infection must be eradicated from the entire Congress. In Brazil’s case, the infection seems to come from the parasitic relationship between politician and corporation: To prevent this relationship from occurring, Brazil must use taxes as the the only capital to fund political campaigns; corporate executives who engage in “organized crime would … [not] finance politicians”(“Brazil election”). Candidates for political office would have a set budget, and the chance of catching those who would bribe or be bribed would be much higher, thus eradicating one of the major reasons for corruption. Additionally, the government must be held more accountable for its corrupt members. Specifically, Brazil must get rid of its privilege law. This law protects government officials by allowing trials to take place only in the Supreme Court, which hears more than 100,000 cases annually. Because the Supreme Court is so backlogged, legislators have “near impunity… about 22,000 people enjoy this privilege” (Winter) Repealing this law would allow lower courts to hear these cases, benefiting the public by bringing corrupt officials to justice quickly and making it easier to change the government culture by punishing wrongdoers. Finally, as with any bribery, money laundering, or graft scheme, capital is

Political corruption faces a few ethical dilemmas. The prosecution faces so many issues when attempting to prosecute political figures for crimes of bribery or corruption. Conviction of political members requires a strong case against the accused and witnesses or whistleblower are usually essential in developing that case. The seniority of the political member doesn’t matter any acts of improprieties has to be held accountable. Speech or Debate Clause was developed to protect legislators from being persecuted by prosecution while conducting official legislative to further their constituent. These laws set in place makes prosecution of political figure for corrupting difficult and these ethical dilemmas the prosecutions encounter conflicts with

One of the largest issues that democracy in Latin America faces is bribery. This however is not entirely the fault of the corrupt politician trying to stay in power. Voters are also to blame for accepting these bribes. By accepting the