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American Morning
Clock Ticking on James Traficant's Congressional Career
Aired July 19, 2002 - 08:15 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The clock is ticking now on James Traficant's congressional career. A House Ethics Committee has recommended that he be expelled from the House of Representatives. The full House could vote as early as next week, deciding if the Ohio congressman stays or goes.
He has been convicted of bribery, tax evasion and fraud. He claims he was railroaded by the Justice Department and now by his colleagues in Congress. Colorful as well as corrupt, Traficant is the latest in a long line of political rogues who get into the news because they're more interesting than the honest guys down there, the few that are there.
Jeff Greenfield's here this morning with more.
How are you doing?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Interesting take.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
GREENFIELD: Yes, James Traficant is likely on his way out of the Congress after a jury convicted him of criminal corruption, as you've heard. But remember, Traficant was elected to the House 18 years ago, after being indicted -- and acquitted, to be fair -- for corruption when he was a county sheriff. And he survived despite story after story accusing him of misconduct.
Meanwhile in Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Vince "Buddy" Cianci (ph) lost his first crack at an appeal after his conviction. But remember, Cianci has been elected and reelected as mayor despite a, let's be charitable here, somewhat checkered past.
And the fact is there's a whole class of politicians who survive in this country, even flourish, in spite of and maybe because of their behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You made me love you.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): This is James Michael Curley (ph), the fabled Boston politician who is the model for the roguish character Spencer Tracy played in "The Last Hurrah." For more than 40 years, Curley served as alderman, congressman, governor of Massachusetts, mayor of Boston.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You made me love you.
GREENFIELD: The last time he served, he spent part of his term in prison for mail fraud.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't want to do it.
GREENFIELD: This...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to run in the primary.
GREENFIELD: ... is Adam Clayton Powell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to get money with you.
GREENFIELD: He represented Harlem in the Congress for 25 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Segregation is finished.
GREENFIELD: He was constantly accused of financial shenanigans, of living high on the hog at taxpayers' expense. The more his critics yelled...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black is beautiful, baby.
GREENFIELD: The more votes Powell got. Only when a lawsuit forced him into exile did his constituents vote him out of office.
This is Edwin Edwards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to have a ball you've got to spend some cash.
GREENFIELD: Elected four times as governor of Louisiana, even though he was indicted two times for corruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how I sign this.
GREENFIELD: A high liver, an enthusiastic gambler...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you get lucky, then you've got to rise the tide.
GREENFIELD: ... a man whose campaign slogan one year was "let the good times roll."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the good times roll.
GREENFIELD: When he ran against ex-Klansman David Duke, a bumper sticker read, "Vote for the crook -- it's important."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad, bad boys.
GREENFIELD: And just in case you think some jobs are too important for the public to forgive a serious mistake... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad, bad boys.
GREENFIELD: Well, think again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: Now, when a political rogue does fall, as we've seen, it's not often pretty. At his hearing earlier this week, Congressman Traficant's bravado often seemed more like the last act of a desperate man. We'll hear this again, I guess.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES TRAFICANT (D), OHIO: I will take with me a file, a chisel, a knife. I'll try and get some major explosives, try and fight my way out. Then when I get out, I'll grab a sword like Maximus, Meridius (ph), Domidius (ph) and as a gladiator, I'll stab people in the crotch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Not quite the Gettysburg Address.
And also after years of invincibility, ex-Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards was convicted of corruption and may well be on his way to prison.
So the reality is, Jack, sooner or later many, if not most, of these lovable rogues appear to run out of luck.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I can remember back a few years ago, there wasn't a term for a number of years in Jersey City where the mayor actually served the whole thing because they'd come in and take him out of the city hall and take him off to stand trial for something and they'd have to name a successor.
GREENFIELD: And one thing I think I've discovered is people are much more forgiving when times are good.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
GREENFIELD: We had a mayor in New York named Jimmy Walker, a real bon vivant, barely worked...
CAFFERTY: Sure.
GREENFIELD: ... little tin box. His associates got rich on the public till. That was a lot of fun in the '20s. Once the Depression hit, people stopped laughing.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Richard Daley in Chicago. I mean they loved him out there and he played that town like a tin drum for years.
GREENFIELD: Right. But the Daley thing was, I think if you look at the legal questions, Daley used politics as a weapon and fused politics and government. But nobody ever personally accused Daley of corruption the way some of these rogues have been accused. There was a somewhat -- but there's a great, quick story about Daley. A guy went to volunteer to work on a campaign and the organization said who sent you? He said, well, I just came by myself. And the guy said we don't want nobody, nobody sent.
CAFFERTY: Nobody, nobody sent?
GREENFIELD: Right.
CAFFERTY: You said you had to leave early, out to exorcise your AOL Time Warner stock options this morning.
GREENFIELD: Yes, we're going to bring Martha Stewart in to show us how to turn them into place mats.
CAFFERTY: Jeff, good to see you.
GREENFIELD: OK.
CAFFERTY: Have a good weekend.
Jeff Greenfield.
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