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CNN Live Today
Traficant Fails to Show for House Panel
Aired July 16, 2002 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Embattled and convicted congressman, James Traficant, failed to show up this morning before a House panel that may recommend his expulsion. But he was there yesterday, providing his legendary colorful commentary.
More from CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is as alone as it gets: no party to claim him, no colleague to stand by him.
REP. JAMES TRAFICANT (D), OHIO: I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to be anywhere.
CROWLEY: Facing jail time and certain expulsion from Congress, James Traficant is his only defense.
TRAFICANT: I am prepared to be expelled. I am prepared to go to jail, because I did not do this.
CROWLEY: A Cleveland jury found Traficant guilty on 10 felony counts, including bribery and racketeering. He will be sentenced at the end of this month. Everyone, including Traficant, expects he will be expelled from Congress, perhaps by the end of this week.
KEN KELLNER, COUNSEL, HOUSE STANDARDS & OFFICIAL CONDUCT COMMITTEE: The evidence will show that Representative Traficant, in a pattern of conduct that repeated itself over and over and over again, traded his office and the duties he swore to uphold for money, farm equipment, free labor, and a myriad of other things of value to him.
CROWLEY: No one expected Traficant, the combative maverick Democrat with an ear for the pithy and puzzling sound bite, would go quietly.
TRAFICANT: I'll be damned if I'll be targeted. The FBI can go to hell.
CROWLEY: In testimony that was always defiant, frequently irrelevant, Traficant blamed a government conspiracy for his downfall, a runaway FBI and a vengeful IRS for threatening witnesses into testifying against him. TRAFICANT: I say that Janet Reno has exposed our children to a Chinese bomb. And, damn it, I want it on the record.
CROWLEY: This is a man who seems to both revel in and be unaware of his own bizarreness.
TRAFICANT: A horse drinks five gallons of water, he is going to urinate five gallons of water.
CROWLEY: In Washington, where theater and politics are a consolidated industry, this would be comedy if it were not for the pathos.
TRAFICANT: Where are we? Where are we in America? This is a damn joke. Other than that, I'm feeling fine.
If someone in the audience has a cough drop, I would appreciate it. My throat is sore. I'm having some rectal disorders, as a matter of fact, as a result of this. My stomach is upset. And I am hard to live with.
CROWLEY (on camera): The hearings could last until the end of the week, so expect a couple of unusual days, but no surprise ending. The man without a country could soon be the man without a job.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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