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Abscam (sometimes ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation run out of the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island office which initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and thereafter was converted to a public corruption investigation. The investigation ultimately led to the conviction of a United States Senator, six members of the House of Representatives, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, members of the Philadelphia City Council, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...
In law enforcement a sting operation is an operation designed to catch a person committing a crime, by means of deception. ...
Hauppauge (pronounced ) is a hamlet in the Town of Islip and the Town of Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York, United States. ...
Mercator projection of Long Island Long Island is an island in New York, USA. It has an area of 1,377 square miles (3567 km²) and a population of 7. ...
Map Political Statistics County Camden County Mayor Gwendolyn Faison Geographic Statistics Area - Total - Land - Water 26. ...
How the sting worked
The FBI set up "Abdul Enterprises, Ltd." in 1978 and FBI employees posed as Middle Eastern businessmen in videotaped talks with government officials, where they offered money in return for political favors to a non-existent sheik. A house (4407 W St. NW, Washington, DC), along with a yacht in Florida and hotel rooms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, were used to set up meetings between various public officials and a mysterious Arab sheik named Abdul who wanted: A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...
Shaikh (Arabic: شيخ ),(also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh or Sheikh) is a word in the Arabic language meaning elder of tribe, lord or a revered old man. ...
- To purchase asylum in the U.S.
- To involve them in an investment scheme
- To get help in getting his money out of his country
Much of the operation was directed by Melvin Weinberg, a convicted con artist who was hired by the FBI for that purpose. It was the first major operation by the FBI to trap corrupt public officials; up until 1970 only ten members of Congress had ever been convicted of accepting bribes. A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...
On February 2, 1980 reports surfaced that FBI personnel were targeting members of Congress in a sting operation. The media dubbed the operation Abscam after the name of the company. February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...
Convictions Of the thirty-one targeted officials, one senator, Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ), and five members of the House of Representatives (John Jenrette (D-SC), Richard Kelly (R-FL), Raymond Lederer (D-PA), Michael "Ozzie" Myers (D-PA) and Frank Thompson (D-NJ)), were convicted of bribery and conspiracy in separate trials in 1981. Another, John M. Murphy (D-NY), was convicted of a lesser charge. While most of the politicians resigned, Myers had to be expelled and Williams did not resign until the vote on his expulsion was almost due. Five other government officials were convicted, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Angelo Errichetti; members of the Philadelphia City Council; and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Harrison Williams Harrison Arlington Williams, Jr. ...
John Jenrette is a former American politician. ...
Richard Kelly (July 31, 1924–August 22, 2005) is an American politician (Republican Congressman) who was convicted of taking bribes in the 1980 Abscam scandal but the conviction was overturned on the basis that the FBI had used entrapment. ...
Raymond Lederer - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1981. ...
Michael Joseph Ozzie Myers (born May 4, 1943) is a politician from the U.S. State of Pennsylvania. ...
Frank Thompson, Jr. ...
John Michael Murphy (August 3, 1926) was a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York from 1963 to 1981. ...
A mayor (from the Latin mÄior, meaning larger,greater) is in modern times the title of the highest ranking municipal officer, who discharges certain judicial and administrative functions, in many systems an elected politician, who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of municipalities. ...
Map Political Statistics County Camden County Mayor Gwendolyn Faison Geographic Statistics Area - Total - Land - Water 26. ...
Angelo Errichetti (1928 - ), American politician, served as Mayor of Camden, NJ and New Jersey State senator. ...
Harrison A. Williams' involvement Senator Harrison A. Williams was indicted on October 30th, 1980[1] and convicted on May 1, 1981[2] on nine counts of bribery and conspiracy to use his office to aid in business ventures.[3] Harrison repeatedly met with the FBI agents, and had worked out a deal where he would become involved in a titanium mining operation by way of having 18% of the company's shares issued to his lawyer, Alexander Feinberg. Williams then promised to steer government contracts to the venture by using his position in the Senate. Harrison Williams Harrison Arlington Williams, Jr. ...
At his trial, lawyers for Mr. Williams argued that the Senator had not actually been bribed because the stock in the titanium mining company was worthless. Other defenses included in attempts to have the charges dismissed included that he was a victim of selective prosecution by the Justice Department because he had supported the presidential bid of Ted Kennedy over Jimmy Carter in the Democratic Primary[4]. These premises were not accepted by the jury, who convicted Mr. Williams after 28 hours of deliberation on May 1, 1981. Later appeals made by Mr. Williams included arguments that a main prosecution witness had perjured himself and that the Senator had been a victim of entrapment. The guilty verdict was upheld, and the Senator was sentenced to 3 years in jail for his crimes. == == ! ...
James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ...
Because of the convictions, the Senate Ethics Committee voted to censure Senator Williams and put a motion to the floor to expel the Senator for charges of bringing dishonor upon their house of congress and his "ethically repugnant behavior." Supporters of Williams moved that the censure was enough, and that the expulsion was unnecessary. The Senate voted to censure Mr. Williams, but before the vote on his expulsion could occur, Senator Williams resigned his seat in the Senate. In his resignation speech, the Senator proclaimed his innocence and argued that the investigation into his activities was a grievous assault on the rights of the Senate, and that the other senators should be wary of unchecked investigations into their activities by other branches of the government. [5]
Mr. Williams served two years of his three year sentence at a federal penitentiary in Newark, New Jersey. He served the remainder of his term at the Integrity House halfway house, where he became a member of the board of directors until his death by cancer on November 17, 2001. He also attempted to receive a presidential pardon from President Clinton, but his request was denied. A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ...
Order: 42nd President Term of Office: January 20, 1993–January 20, 2001 Preceded by: George H. W. Bush Succeeded by: George W. Bush Date of birth: August 19, 1946 Place of birth: Hope, Arkansas Date of death: Place of death: First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton Political party: Democratic Vice...
Harrison A. Williams was the first Senator to be jailed in almost 80 years, and had the expulsion motion been approved, would have been the first Senator to be expelled from the Senate since the Civil War.
Jack Murtha's involvement Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA) was not indicted or prosecuted. The FBI videotaped Murtha as saying, "I'm not interested...at this point." to $50,000 cash right after Murtha had offered to provide names of businesses and banks in his district where money could be legally invested.[6] John Patrick “Jack†Murtha, Jr. ...
In November 1980, the Justice Department announced that Murtha would not face prosecution for his part in the scandal. In July 1981, the House ethics committee also chose not to file charges against Congressman Murtha, following a mostly party line vote, after which E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr., the panel's special counsel, abruptly resigned in protest. House ethics rules require members to immediately report any bribe offers to the FBI.
In 2002, one of the panel members, Rep. Don Bailey (who lost to Murtha in a primary challenge in 1982) released a public letter stating "I was, to be honest, critical about how you misled me about Abscam where you convinced me you had voluntarily told federal agents about the offer of money to you," Bailey wrote Murtha. "I learned later, after I had successfully defeated the ethics charges against you, that you had merely manipulated the system to cooperate with federal agents to avoid prosecution," Bailey added.[7] Donald Allen Don Bailey (born July 21, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ...
Other People's Involvement The FBI was accused of entrapment and in 1982 the conviction of Richard Kelly was overturned. However, an appeals court upheld the conviction and Kelly served 13 months in prison.[8] (He had been memorably videotaped jamming $25,000 into his pockets. He then turned to one of the agents and asked "Does it show?") The FBI and the Department of Justice were also accused of having political motivations in the politicians they targeted. In jurisprudence, entrapment is a procedural defense by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were induced (or entrapped) by the police to commit said acts. ...
DOJ headquarters in Washington, D.C. Justice Department redirects here. ...
Senator Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) refused to take the bribe, saying at the time, "Wait a minute, what you are suggesting may be illegal." He immediately reported the incident to the FBI. When Senator Pressler was told Walter Cronkite referred to him on the evening news as a "hero" he stated, "I do not consider myself a hero ... what have we come to if turning down a bribe is 'heroic'?" Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School frequently has cited Pressler as an example for his fellow Harvard Law graduates to follow. Categories: People stubs | 1942 births | United States Senators ...
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ...
Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor. ...
Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ...
Conclusion When the investigation became public in early 1980, controversy centered on the use of the "sting" technique and Weinberg's involvement in selecting targets. Although Weinberg was found to have previously engaged in numerous felonious activities, he avoided a three-year prison sentence and was paid $150,000 in connection with the operation. Ultimately, all of the ABSCAM convictions were upheld on appeal,[9] although some judges criticized the tactics used by the FBI and lapses in FBI and DOJ supervision.[10]
In the wake of ABSCAM, Attorney General Civiletti issued "The Attorney General Guidelines for FBI Undercover Operations" ("Civiletti Undercover Guidelines") on January 5, 1981. These were the first Attorney General Guidelines for undercover operations, and they formalized procedures necessary to conduct undercover operations.
Following the initial press accounts about the ABSCAM investigation, Congress held a series of hearings to examine FBI undercover operations and the new Civiletti Undercover Guidelines. The House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights began hearings on FBI undercover operations in March 1980 and concluded with a report in April 1984. Among the concerns expressed during the hearings were the undercover agents' involvement in illegal activity, the possibility of entrapping individuals, the prospect of damaging the reputations of innocent civilians, and the opportunity to undermine legitimate rights to privacy
In March 1982, after the Senate debated a resolution to expel Senator Harrison A. Williams for his conduct in ABSCAM, the Senate established the Select Committee to Study Undercover Activities. In December 1982, the Committee issued its final report, which was generally supportive of the undercover technique but observed that its use "creates serious risks to citizens' property, privacy, and civil liberties, and may compromise law enforcement itself."
While nervous politicians encouraged public concern as to the danger and legality of the sting operations, FBI documents later disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the American public had been overwhelmingly supportive of the operation.[11] Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...
Congressional concern about sting operations persisted, creating numerous additional guidelines in the ensuing years:
- The Civiletti Guidelines - 1980-1981
- The Smith Guidelines - 1983
- The Thornburgh Guidelines - 1989
- The Reno Guidelines - 2001
During the course of Abscam, the FBI handed out more than $400,000 in bribes to Congressmen and middlemen.
External links
Similar sting operation on Tennessee state lawmakers A similar sting, known as Operation Tennessee Waltz, was set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennessee state lawmakers and two men identified as "bagmen" in the indictment on the morning of May 26, 2005 on bribery charges. The FBI and TBI followed these arrests with an additional arrest of two county commissioners, one from Hamilton County, and the other a member of the prominent Hooks family, of Memphis. Investigators also arrested a former county administrator. Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. ...
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