Forever in Vogue: Corruption in the Capitol

From the Abscam days to the present, political corruption in America appears to be all but inescapable. It is a societal problem in need of correction. However, it must be solved on an individual level.

On a cold February day, as relay runners carrying the Olympic torch passed through New York City en route to Lake Placid, nearby intelligence agents hurriedly worked to complete a secret, ongoing sting operation. News of their surreptitious probe had just leaked to the media, and the FBI, working out of a small office on Long Island, was still many weeks away from completing its undercover inquiry. Sweating under a spotlight and racing against the clock, the federal agency pushed paper and tied up loose ends before indicting its first government official in the fall of 1980. Over the next few months, the FBI charged dozens of public figures with accepting bribes and conspiracy. The alleged perpetrators hailed from city councils and congressional districts from across the Eastern Seaboard.

The two-year investigation, codenamed “Abscam,” operated under the guise of a fictitious company headed by an Arab sheikh, who was allegedly interested in investing oil money in the United States. The scheme, developed by a seasoned con-artist working with the FBI, first sought to unearth and expose white-collar corruption in the private sector. However, the project organically matured to ensnare public officials willing to accept money in exchange for political favors. In the end, after each defendant had had his day in court, a senator, six congressmen, the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and an assortment of other government officials were found guilty of corruption.

Despite their success and ostensibly noble intentions, the FBI came under heavy criticism for employing what many people believed to be questionable methods during the investigation.