James Traficant
James A. Traficant, Jr. | |
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| Personal details | |
| Nationality | american |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | nospouse |
James Anthony "Jim" Traficant, Jr. (born May 8, 1941) was a flamboyantly iconoclastic former Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio (from 1985 to 2002), when he was expelled after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, DC (see [[1]]).
Born and raised Catholic in Youngstown, Ohio, he graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 (where he starred in football), and obtained a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and another from Youngstown State University. He was the executive director of Mahoning County Drug Program from 1971-81 and sheriff of Mahoning County, of which Youngstown is the county seat, from 1981-85. While serving as sheriff, Traficant made national headlines by refusing to enact foreclosure orders on several unemployed homeowners. In 1983 he was charged with racketeering for accepting bribes. Traficant, who represented himself in the criminal trial, argued that he accepted the bribes only as part of an undercover investigation into corruption. Traficant was acquitted of the charges, becoming the only person ever to win a RICO case while representing himself.
Taking advantage of the publicity from the RICO trial, Trafficant was elected as a Democrat to Congress from Ohio's 17th District, based in Youngstown, defeating a six-year Republican incumbent. He was reelected eight times without serious opposition.
In the House, Traficant was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Democratic caucus with his eccentric behavior, an image he embraced. Casting himself as a rough-hewn populist and "regular guy," his speeches were far outside the usual staid norms of political speaking. Many people tuned into C-SPAN just to watch his one-minute speeches at the beginning of each day's sitting. His trademark closing rhetoric was " "Beam me up... I yield back the fact..." His Website featured a picture of him swinging a two-by-four with the words "Bangin' away in D.C."
After the Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Trafficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. However, he voted against all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. After voting for Republican Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to give him a committee assignment. Because the Republicans did not assign him to any committee, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century without any committee assignment who was not in a leadership position.
Traficant's fearlessness allowed him to champion the unpopular cause of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian-born autoworker from Seven Hills, who had been convicted in Israel and sentenced to hang for having been the brutal concentration camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." For almost a decade, Traficant was virtually alone in insisting that Demjanjuk had been denied a fair trial and been the victim of mistaken identity; the Supreme Court of Israel eventually agreed and overturned the conviction in 1993.
In 2002, Traficant was indicted on federal corruption charges for taking campaign funds for personal use. Again, he opted to represent himself, insisting that the trial was part of a vendetta against him dating to his 1983 trial. During the trial, Traficant frequently argued with the judge and screamed at prosecutors and witnesses. On April 15, he was convicted of ten felony counts including bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. Once convicted, he was stripped of his right to vote in the House under the chamber's rules. The House Ethics Committee recommended that he be expelled from the House, and on July 25 the House voted 420-1 to expel him. Traficant was the first representative to be expelled since Michael Myers' expulsion in 1980 as a result of the Abscam scandal.
After his expulsion, Traficant ran as an independent candidate for another term in the House while incarcerated in a federal prison in White Deer, Pennsylvania. He received 15 percent of the vote (27,487 votes) and became one of only a handful of individuals in the history of the United States to run for a federal office from prison. The election was won by one of his former aides, Tim Ryan.
In March 2004, the Federal Bureau of Prisons moved Traficant to a federal prison near Ray Brook, New York. As of April 2005, the Federal Bureau of Prisons listed Traficant at the Federal Medical Center Rochester, an administrative facility providing specialized mental health services.
In addition to his tirades on the House floor and his independent tack, he was also known for his garish clothes and toupee (see[[2]]) and his loathing of NAFTA, the CIA and the Internal Revenue Service.
Quotes
"Am I different? Yeah. Deep down, you know you want to wear wider bottoms; you're just not secure enough. . . . Do I do my hair with a Weed Whacker? I admit."
"I want you to disregard all the opposing counsel has said. I think they're delusionary. I think they've had something funny for lunch in their meal, I think they should be handcuffed, chained to a fence and flogged, and all of their hearsay evidence should be thrown the hell out. And if they lie again, I'm going to go over there and kick them in the crotch. Thank you very much."
"Madam Speaker, an investigation revealed that 16,000 IRS employees illegally used their computers. The report states IRS agents spent 50 percent of their time at work on personal business. If that is not enough to service your revenue, IRS agents illegally used their computers for shopping, stock trading, gambling and pornography. Unbelievable. Think about it. While 60 percent of taxpayer calls to the IRS go unanswered, the IRS agents were watching Marilyn Chambers do the Rotary International. Beam me up here. It is time to pass a flat 15 percent sales tax and abolish this gambling, porno-watching IRS completely. I yield back the internal rectal service of the United States of America."
"I apologize. As a fashion leader, it is tough for me at times to comport with some rules."
"Beam me up."
See also
- Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 17th District
- List of United States Representatives from Ohio