Comparing scandals by administration

In comparing scandals by administration, first I had to decide what constituted a scandal. How many were genuine problems versus those artificially hyped by opposition parties. Benghazi? Whitewater? Travelgate?

Even when someone was forced to resign over a scandal, how much of that was politically motivated rather than a criminal issue, like Joycelyn Elders’ masturbation comments or Shirley Sherrod’s firing over what turned out to be a doctored video?

I ultimately relied on Wikipedia’s list of federal political scandals in the U.S., but limited it to only the executive branch scandals that actually resulted in a criminal indictment. I also decided to only go back as far as Richard Nixon, whose participation in Watergate ultimately resulted in him being the only sitting president to ever resign. This lets many other scandal-ridden administrations off the hook—notably that of Warren Harding and the Teapot Dome scandal, and of Ulysses S. Grant and the Whiskey Ring and Black Friday scandals—but so be it.

The chart below only includes people who served in the administration, and excludes others (like members of Congress and private individuals) who may have also been swept up and indicted for the same scandal. The “Convictions” list includes both those who went to trial and were found guilty as well as those who plea bargained and pleaded guilty. The “Prison Sentences” should be considered a minimum figure, as Wikipedia's list wasn’t always clear on penalties and I wasn’t able to look all of the unclear ones up.

Executive Branch Criminal Activities by Presidential Administration Administration Party Years in Office Criminal Indictments Criminal Convictions Prison Sentences Barack Obama Democratic 8 0 0 0 George W. Bush Republican 8 16 16 9 Bill Clinton Democratic 8 2 1 1 George H. W. Bush Republican 4 1 1 1 Ronald Reagan Republican 8 26 16 8 Jimmy Carter Democratic 4 1 0 0 Gerald Ford Republican 2.4 1 1 1 Richard Nixon Republican 5.6 76 55 15

Overall, Richard Nixon’s administration had the most criminal indictments and convictions. Wikipedia’s list enumerates 13 specific individuals who were convicted and imprisoned over Watergate alone, but notes that a total of 69 officials were indicted for the scandal and 48 were either convicted or pleaded guilty. (Nixon himself is not included; after his resignation, President Gerald Ford gave him a blanket pardon, sparing him from any potential indictments. However, his first vice president, Spiro Agnew, is included for indictments unrelated to Watergate.)

The Reagan Administration is next with 26 indictments and 16 convictions (including guilty pleas), followed by the George W. Bush Administration with 16 indictments, all ending in convictions or guilty pleas. The Nixon Administration had at least 15 people serve at least some time in prison for their crimes, while Bush 43’s administration had at least 9 and the Reagan Administration had at least 8. (Scooter Libby’s sentence is included here even though Bush pardoned him in 2007 before he was sent to jail, since the pardon did not expunge the crime and the pardon itself is a political act, not a judicial determination. But others whose convictions were later overturned—like Oliver North’s and John Poindexter’s—are included under indictments but not convictions since it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to second-guess the courts’ reasoning for overturning those convictions.)

All those Clinton White House “scandals”? Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on hearings on Whitewater, Travelgate, the use of the White House Christmas card list, and other oddities, almost all resulted in absolutely nothing. Clinton himself isn’t included. As with Nixon, the impeachment proceedings themselves should count as an indictment, and in the end his only citation was for contempt of court, which I didn’t interpret as the same as an indictment. (I will update this if folks show me this was incorrect.) The only indictments for his administration were of his Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy (who was acquitted of all 30 charges) and of Espy’s chief of staff Ronald Blackely, who was convicted of making a false statement and sentenced to 27 months in prison.

The George H. W. Bush Administration only had a single criminal indictment, but it’s notable for two reasons. It was the only time that a U.S. treasurer has ever gone to prison. But Catalina Vasquez Villalpando’s conviction and sentence is probably less notable than who didn’t go to jail: President Bush 41 himself escaped potentially ruinous scandal by granting clemency to six people indicted in the Reagan Administration’s Iran-Contra scandal, thereby avoiding trials that could have exposed Bush 41’s involvement.

Executive branch criminal actions from Richard Nixon through Barack Obama.

Comparing scandals by party

Just glancing at the chart above, it’s pretty clear which administrations are the most criminal, but let’s roll up the data anyway.

Executive Branch Criminal Activities by Party Since 1968 Administration Total Years in Office Criminal Indictments Criminal Convictions Prison Sentences Democratic 20 3 1 1 Republican 28 120 89 34

Some might try to argue that this unfairly penalizes Republican administrations because GOP administrations held office for eight more years than Democratic administrations during this time period. The huge gap between the numbers shows how ridiculous that is, but even so, let’s get the averages per year of combined administrations:

Average Executive Branch Criminal Actions by Year Since 1968 Administration Average # Indictments Per Year Average # Convictions Per Year Average # Imprisonments Per Year Democratic 0.15 0.05 0.05 Republican 4.29 3.18 1.21

Even when we standardize it by getting annual averages, GOP administrations still have 29 times more indictments, 64 times more convictions, and 24 times more prison sentences.

Average annual executive branch criminal actions by party dating back to 1969.

For those who say going back to Nixon’s Administration in order to include Watergate was an arbitrary cut-off, I’d argue that excluding Watergate would have been a more extraordinary and arbitrary decision. It was the biggest political scandal of modern times and the only one to lead to the resignation of a sitting president. It marked a huge turning point in the American public’s distrust and skepticism of our governmental institutions. And while I could have included the Johnson administration in order to make it the last 50+ years rather than 48, that would just serve to make the Republican metrics look even worse. It would have added five years to the Democrats’ denominator without adding any more executive branch criminal actions to their numerator, which have just served to lower the Democratic annual percentages even further. And while Watergate and other criminal actions in the Nixon administration certainly added a huge chunk to Republican totals, the Reagan and Bush 43 administrations certainly did their part to keep those numbers up.

A warning to the Trump administration

Donald Trump’s nominees are already in danger. Trump already has a reputation for deliberately fostering conflicts and rivalries among his subordinates. Somehow he survived despite this behavior in the boardroom, and naturally thrived on it in his reality television career—many viewers turn in to see conflict, not cooperation. But in the White House, it will be a disaster. Enemies will seek to undermine their rivals, and that will mean leaks, investigations (by journalists if Congress shirks its duty), and potential criminal indictments even if the Justice Department turns a blind eye. (Not just one but two of Nixon’s attorneys general ended up going to jail, so a compliant Department of Justice isn’t protection.)

Trump’s own potential conflicts are too numerous to list, and while the president is exempt from some conflicts of interest laws, it’s not a blanket immunity, especially for things in the Constitution like the Emoluments Clause. (How many of us had even heard of that clause before this election? I only knew of it vaguely as a prohibition of elected officials to accept Titles of Nobility while still in office—Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush’s British knighthoods came after they left office and Dwight Eisenhower’s were awarded before he became president for his leadership in World War II, for which he nevertheless needed congressional authorization at the time since he was still serving in the military.)

But as I mentioned before, his nominees are at great personal risk if their nominations are rushed through before FBI or Office of Government Ethics review. A conflict that is revealed after they take office could result in criminal indictments. And while President Trump could pardon them for criminal violations (but not civil acts), that only applies to federal charges, not those filed under other state laws, should there be any. And how many pardons can he issue before his own support erodes? Yes, some of his most rabid supporters won’t care (but still want to seek criminal charges against Democrats who didn’t even commit any crimes). But his winning edge in the states that pushed him over the Electoral College top came from a lot of undecided voters who broke for him in the final week (or eleven days, specifically) but won’t stay loyal if scandals grow. (Already, “voted for you Trump“ on Twitter reveals a lot of his disgruntled voters telling him they voted for him but want him to stop tweeting, vet his nominees with proper ethics review, address the Russian hacking issue, and other expressions of disappointment.)

If they were wise, Trump’s nominees and appointees should insist on an Office of Government Ethics review before taking office for their own legal protection.

The vetting process is intended to expose legal conflicts as well as potentially politically embarrassing issues that could cause a nomination to be withdrawn or rejected by the Senate, but it also provides the appointee with a road map for how to legally protect themselves once in office. This process typically includes investigating:

Tax issues

Ethical and financial conflicts of interest

Legal and law enforcement history, such as criminal records

Publications and organizational affiliations that could prove embarrassing

Medical, family, and personal issues

Issues exposed in the process could result in working with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to address those conflicts (such as divesting stocks or business assets that could provide a conflict), developing a plan for how to speak about past history in confirmation hearings, or potentially even withdrawing the nomination for an insurmountable issue. They work with the OGE to craft a binding letter that outlines the steps the official will take to resolve conflicts identified by the OGE.

The vetting process is a chore, but it’s an important step to avoid potentially worse embarrassments for the administration after the confirmation, not to mention potential criminal liability for the appointees. In 2004, Rudy Giuliani persuaded President Bush to nominate Bernie Kerik for secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik was a former NYPD and NY Department of Corrections Commissioner who later served in 2003 as the interior minister of the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority. His nomination was derailed when the vetting process revealed that he had illegally employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny, and then ended up pleading guilty to two unrelated ethics charges resulting in a $221,000 fine. In 2009, Kerik pleaded guilty to eight more charges, including tax fraud and false statements, and was sentenced to four years in prison. As embarrassing as it was for the Bush administration to have to withdraw their nomination for a high-profile cabinet post, it would have been even worse for their actual secretary of Homeland Security to be arrested while in office.

When Obama was elected in 2008, his transition team employed dozens of lawyers to help with the vetting process, according to Rachel Maddow on the opening segment on her January 9, 2017, show. One of the most complicated vetting processes was for Penny Pritzker, a Chicago billionaire who, among other things, was daughter and heir of the co-founded of Hyatt Hotels. She was considered for secretary of Commerce in 2009, but withdrew from consideration. She was then nominated and confirmed for the position when it became vacant in 2013. Her disclosure forms listing all of her assets, holdings, and business interests were 184 pages long. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics spent six months going through every line item of those 184 pages to develop a plan for Pritzker to divest herself of her business conflicts and shield herself from potential criminal liability for a conflicts violation. In the end, she had to sell her stakes in more than 200 business entities.

But it worked. She’ll leave office on January 20 without a single ethics charge. Though the Obama team’s ethics review missed some things before nomination—like Tom Daschle’s $140,000 in back taxes he owed due to unreported income in the form of the use of a car and chauffeur provided by one of his lobbying clients—the vetting still captured those issues during the confirmation process. None of Obama’s appointees had a criminal conflicts of interest violation or any other criminal violations after taking office. Not one.

Time will tell, but I would not be surprised if this new administration sets records for the number of indictments, convictions, and prison sentences. Controlling the Justice Department and Congress won’t be enough to insulate them from prosecution. And it’s quite possible that members of his own family are risk of criminal liability if more is investigated about Don Jr.’s secret meetings with Russian officials during the campaign, or his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s own conflicts of interest, including pursuing a business deal just weeks after the election with a Chinese company that had already been blocked from doing business in the U.S., after his role in the administration was already being discussed, which was finally officially announced a few days ago. Before the next four years are over, we could have another president resign in the face of impeachment, particularly if the public disgust grows great enough for Democrats to defy odds and retake the House and Senate in 2018. But since this president seems impervious to shame, he may well try to weather the storm, which could well result in the first impeachment and conviction and involuntary removal from office of a sitting president. (And if that happens, will Pence pardon Trump the way Ford pardoned Nixon? I guess it depends on whether he sees greater opportunity with Trump’s rabid base or with more mainstream voters.)

When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, no more than 15 Republican senators still supported him. At the time there were 42 members of the GOP caucus (including a third party senator who caucused with the GOP), which means that nearly two-thirds of the GOP caucus in the Senate had turned against him. The current GOP crop seems far more partisan than in 1974, but you never know when Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell decide to cut their losses, especially if the tide sweeps away their majority in two years. Lord knows, they probably already have enough evidence to seek impeachment. It’s just a question of finding the will.

Criminal actions included in this data

This list was compiled from Wikipedia’s List of Federal Political Scandals in the United States. I did not research each individual case, so the numbers of those who served prison sentences may be an undercount if it was not specifically noted on Wikipedia’s list.

President Barack Obama’s Administration

No appointed officials have faced criminal prosecution.

President George W. Bush’s Administration

Felipe Sixto —Office: Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs as well as Duty Director at the Office of Public Liaison. Crime: Misuse of grant money from the U.S. Agency for International Development from before he took office. Result: conviction and imprisonment

—Office: Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs as well as Duty Director at the Office of Public Liaison. Crime: Misuse of grant money from the U.S. Agency for International Development from before he took office. Result: conviction and imprisonment Scott Bloch —Office: head the United States Office of Special Counsel. Crime: pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information from a congressional investigation. Result: conviction and imprisonment

—Office: head the United States Office of Special Counsel. Crime: pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information from a congressional investigation. Result: conviction and imprisonment Lewis “Scooter” Libby —Office: Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Crime: perjury and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame case. Sentence: imprisonment (commuted by George W. Bush)

—Office: Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Crime: perjury and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame case. Sentence: imprisonment (commuted by George W. Bush) John Korsmo —Office: chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board. Crime: pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board. Crime: pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Darleen A. Druyun —Office: Principal Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty to inflating the price of contracts to favor her future employer, Boeing. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Principal Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty to inflating the price of contracts to favor her future employer, Boeing. Result: convicted and imprisoned David Safavian —Office: General Services Administration Chief of Staff. Crime: found guilty of blocking justice and lying in the Jack Abramoff Scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: General Services Administration Chief of Staff. Crime: found guilty of blocking justice and lying in the Jack Abramoff Scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned Roger Stillwell —Office: Staff in the Department of the Interior. Crime: Pleaded guilty to participating in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Result: convicted (imprisonment suspended)

—Office: Staff in the Department of the Interior. Crime: Pleaded guilty to participating in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Result: convicted (imprisonment suspended) J. Steven Griles —Office: Deputy to the Secretary of the Interior. Crime: pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff Scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Deputy to the Secretary of the Interior. Crime: pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff Scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned Italia Federici —Office: staff to the Secretary of the Interior, and President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Crime: pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of justice. Resulted: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: staff to the Secretary of the Interior, and President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Crime: pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of justice. Resulted: convicted but not imprisoned Jared Carpenter —Office: Vice-President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Crime: pled guilty to income tax evasion. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Vice-President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Crime: pled guilty to income tax evasion. Result: convicted and imprisoned Mark Zachares —Office: staff in the Department of Labor. Crime: bribed by Abramoff and guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: staff in the Department of Labor. Crime: bribed by Abramoff and guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Robert E. Coughlin —Office: Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division of the Justice Department. Crime: pleaded guilty to conflict of interest after accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division of the Justice Department. Crime: pleaded guilty to conflict of interest after accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Kyle Foggo —Office: Executive director of the CIA. Crime: was convicted of honest services fraud in the awarding of government contracts. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Executive director of the CIA. Crime: was convicted of honest services fraud in the awarding of government contracts. Result: convicted and imprisoned Claude Allen —Office: Advisor on Domestic Policy. Crime: series of felony thefts in retail stores. Result: convicted by not imprisoned

—Office: Advisor on Domestic Policy. Crime: series of felony thefts in retail stores. Result: convicted by not imprisoned Lester Crawford —Office: Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Crime: pleaded guilty to conflict of interest. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Crime: pleaded guilty to conflict of interest. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Bernard Kerik—Office: nominated to be Secretary of Homeland Security but confirmation derailed. Crime: employing an undocumented nanny two and other improprieties, and later two counts of tax fraud and five counts of lying to the federal government. Result: convicted and imprisoned

President Bill Clinton’s Administration

Mike Espy —Office: Secretary of Agriculture: Crime: indicted on 30 counts of receiving improper gifts. Result: found innocent of all charges

—Office: Secretary of Agriculture: Crime: indicted on 30 counts of receiving improper gifts. Result: found innocent of all charges Ronald Blackley—Office: Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy. Crime: perjury. Result: Convicted and imprisoned

President George H. W. Bush’s Administration

Catalina Vasquez Villalpando —Office: Treasurer of the United States. Crime: pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Treasurer of the United States. Crime: pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Result: convicted and imprisoned Iran-Contra Affair pardons—President George H. W. Bush granted clemency to five convicted government officials from the Reagan Administration as well as to Caspar Weinberger, whose trial had not yet begun. This action prevented any further investigation into the matter, potentially protecting Bush from being personally implicated. (Results tallied under the Reagan administration.)

President Ronald Reagan’s Administration

Melvyn Paisley —Office: Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Result: convicted and imprisoned James E. Gaines —Office: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: accepting an illegal gratuity, and theft and conversion of government property. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: accepting an illegal gratuity, and theft and conversion of government property. Result: convicted and imprisoned Victor D. Cohen —Office: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and conspiring to defraud the government, the 50th conviction obtained under the Operation Ill Wind probe. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and conspiring to defraud the government, the 50th conviction obtained under the Operation Ill Wind probe. Result: convicted and imprisoned James G. Watt —Office: Secretary of Interior. Crime: charged with 25 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Secretary of Interior. Crime: charged with 25 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Deborah Gore Dean —Office: Executive Assistant to Samuel Pierce, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. Crime: 12 counts of perjury, conspiracy, bribery. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Executive Assistant to Samuel Pierce, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. Crime: 12 counts of perjury, conspiracy, bribery. Result: convicted and imprisoned Philip D. Winn —Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: pleaded guilty to bribery. Result: convicted by not imprisoned

—Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: pleaded guilty to bribery. Result: convicted by not imprisoned Thomas Demery —Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: pleaded guilty to bribery and obstruction. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: pleaded guilty to bribery and obstruction. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Joseph A. Strauss —Office: Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD. Crime: convicted of accepting payments to favor Puerto Rican land developers. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD. Crime: convicted of accepting payments to favor Puerto Rican land developers. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Silvio D. DeBartolomeis —Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: convicted of perjury and bribery. Result: convicted but not imprisoned.

—Office: Assistant Secretary of HUD. Crime: convicted of perjury and bribery. Result: convicted but not imprisoned. Lyn Nofziger —Office: White House Press Secretary. Crime: indicted for lobbying. Result: convicted, but conviction overturned on appeal.

—Office: White House Press Secretary. Crime: indicted for lobbying. Result: convicted, but conviction overturned on appeal. Caspar Weinberger —Office: Secretary of Defense. Crime: indicted on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: indicted by pardoned by George H. W. Bush before trial

—Office: Secretary of Defense. Crime: indicted on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: indicted by pardoned by George H. W. Bush before trial Robert C. McFarlane —Office: National Security Adviser. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence in Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush

—Office: National Security Adviser. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence in Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush Elliott Abrams —Office: Assistant Secretary of State. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence in the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush

—Office: Assistant Secretary of State. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence in the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush Alan D. Fiers —Office: Chief of the CIA’s Central American Task Force. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush

—Office: Chief of the CIA’s Central American Task Force. Crime: convicted of withholding evidence. Result: convicted but not imprisoned, later pardoned by George H. W. Bush Clair George —Office: Chief of Covert Ops-CIA. Crime: convicted on 2 charges of perjury relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but pardoned by George H. W. Bush before sentencing

—Office: Chief of Covert Ops-CIA. Crime: convicted on 2 charges of perjury relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but pardoned by George H. W. Bush before sentencing Oliver North —Office: National Security Council staff member. Crime: convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity, obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. Result: conviction overturned because it conflicted with the immunity he had been granted in exchange for congressional testimony

—Office: National Security Council staff member. Crime: convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity, obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. Result: conviction overturned because it conflicted with the immunity he had been granted in exchange for congressional testimony John Poindexter —Office: National Security Advisor. Crime: convicted of 5 counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence. Result: conviction overurned by the Supreme Court

—Office: National Security Advisor. Crime: convicted of 5 counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence. Result: conviction overurned by the Supreme Court Duane Clarridge —Office: CIA senior official. Crime: indicted on 7 counts of perjury and false statements relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: indicted but pardoned before trial by George H. W. Bush

—Office: CIA senior official. Crime: indicted on 7 counts of perjury and false statements relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: indicted but pardoned before trial by George H. W. Bush Richard V. Secord —Office: major general in the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty for organizing the Iran arms sales and Contra aid in the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: major general in the Air Force. Crime: pleaded guilty for organizing the Iran arms sales and Contra aid in the Iran-Contra Affair. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Thomas G. Clines —Office: intelligence official. Crime: convicted on four income tax counts, including underreporting of income to the IRS and lying about not having foreign accounts. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: intelligence official. Crime: convicted on four income tax counts, including underreporting of income to the IRS and lying about not having foreign accounts. Result: convicted and imprisoned Joseph F. Fernandez —Office: CIA Station Chief of Costa Rica. Crime: Indicted on five counts in 1988. Result: case dismissed when Attorney General Dick Thornburgh refused to declassify information needed for his defense in 1990.

—Office: CIA Station Chief of Costa Rica. Crime: Indicted on five counts in 1988. Result: case dismissed when Attorney General Dick Thornburgh refused to declassify information needed for his defense in 1990. Michael Deaver —Office: Deputy Chief of Staff. Crime: pleaded guilty to perjury related to lobbying activities. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: Deputy Chief of Staff. Crime: pleaded guilty to perjury related to lobbying activities. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Anne Gorsuch Burford —Head of the EPA. Crime: Cut the EPA staff by 22 percent and refused to turn over documents relating to the Sewergate Scandal to Congress. Result: convicted of contempt but not imprisoned

—Head of the EPA. Crime: Cut the EPA staff by 22 percent and refused to turn over documents relating to the Sewergate Scandal to Congress. Result: convicted of contempt but not imprisoned Rita Lavelle —Office: an EPA Administrator. Crime: misused “superfund” monies and was convicted of perjury. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: an EPA Administrator. Crime: misused “superfund” monies and was convicted of perjury. Result: convicted and imprisoned Melvyn R. Paisley —Office: Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: participating in the Operation Ill Wind defense procurement scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned

—Office: Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Crime: participating in the Operation Ill Wind defense procurement scandal. Result: convicted and imprisoned J. Lynn Helms —Office: head of the Federal Aviation Administration. Crime: plea bargained charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission with diverting $1.2 million from an issue of tax-exempt municipal bonds to his own personal use. Result: convicted but not imprisoned

—Office: head of the Federal Aviation Administration. Crime: plea bargained charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission with diverting $1.2 million from an issue of tax-exempt municipal bonds to his own personal use. Result: convicted but not imprisoned Peter Voss—Office: US Postal Service Board of Governors. Crime: theft and accepting payoffs. Result: convicted and imprisoned

President Jimmy Carter’s Administration

Bert Lance—Director of OMB. Crime: indicted for misuse of funds during the sale of a Georgia bank to BCCI. Result: acquitted of all nine counts

President Gerald Ford’s Administration

Earl Butz—Office: Secretary of Agriculture. Crime: charged with tax evasion for failing to report more than $148,000 in 1978. Result: convicted and imprisoned

President Richard Nixon’s Administration