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Since this article (by human nature) will just continue to get longer, I propose to separate the state section into a separate article which could then belong to its on appropriate set of categories. I propose to do this on Dec 10, 2010. Any questions or comments? Thanks Hmains ( talk) 06:14, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
Sounds good. Richrakh ( talk) 07:16, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
The inclusion criteria states that the conviction must be in a court of law. We also have House of Representatives impeachments sometimes resulting in convictions by the US Senate. I removed some of the impeachment convictions as not being a 'court of law', but I stopped to asked whether the inclusion criteria should instead be changed to include 'impeachment convictions by the US Senate'. Hmains ( talk) 04:54, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
A significant fraction of the entries are not politicians, being connected to a political scandal does not make you a politican. Fawn Hall was not a politican. Neither was Richard Secord. Either needs retitling or a significant clean-out. Hairhorn ( talk) 20:48, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
But a functionary isn't a politician. That would be a pointlessly broad definition of politician that would cover every civil servant, every judge, every police officer.... Hairhorn ( talk) 06:36, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
I would suggest changing the title of the entry then, since we're now talking about anyone who works in government. It's perverse to call a secretary a "federal politician". Hairhorn ( talk) 15:04, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
How is G. Gordon Libby an American Federal politician? He has not run for federal office, nor been appointed to political office. Collect ( talk) 21:01, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
If I understand correctly, contempt of court in a civil case in the US is not a criminal matter, so I'm not clear on why there's an entry for Clinton. Hairhorn ( talk) 04:07, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
So it's open to interpretation. Fair enough. Let's go back to first principles. Do any reliable sources actually describe it as a conviction? Google would suggest not (I tried several other variations too). Alzarian16 ( talk) 21:00, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
References
I have a hard time buying Egil Krogh, G. Gordon Liddy et al as "politicians". Hairhorn ( talk) 19:10, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
No, this list is for people convicted of crimes committed while in public office, what office did Liddy hold? None. Ditto Herbert Porter, who didn't even work in the White House. Now, if you want to argue that Liddy et al worked in government, and are therefore a politicians, then we go down a road where E. Howard Hunt is a politician, Fawn Hall is a politician, every police officer and soldier are politicians. This view was already raised and dismissed in the previous discussion above. Hairhorn ( talk) 17:52, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
Sorry, I just don't see it, your use of "office" is just as problematic. Aides to advisors are politicians? How far down the chain are you willing to go? It's even worse with Porter, who only ever worked for CREEP, but that wasn't part of government, it was a wing of the Republican campaign. Hairhorn ( talk) 01:25, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Please have a look at the previous discussion ("Politicians", above). Hairhorn ( talk) 13:12, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Changing "convicted of crimes while in office" to "convicted of crimes while working as politicians" changes the inclusion criteria considerably; the list is supposed to be about people convicted of crimes they committed while they held a position in government; "working as a politician" is far more vague and can include e.g. private citizens running for office, or people formerly in office who still take on occasional advisory roles (such as ex-presidents). Hairhorn ( talk) 13:23, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Herbert L. Porter was promoted from his post on the White House staff to the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), as Director of Scheduling [1] Whether it was Nixon, Mitchell or Magruder who actually selected him doesn't matter. They are all politicians.
Creep was organized by Nixon and was NOT part of the standard Republican Party. Attorney General John Mitchell, was tapped to serve as campaign director of the Citizens Committee to Re-Elect the President, headed by acting director Jeb Magruder, who began planning to run a national campaign independently of the Republican National Committee. [2] (emphasis mine) Richrakh ( talk) 04:59, 4 July 2012 (UTC)
What part of the definition of 'politician' don't you understand? Richrakh ( talk) 05:41, 5 July 2012 (UTC)
Now, now. Stay focused. YOU said Creep was part of the Republican party. You were wrong. It was organized by Nixon and run by Mitchell, therefore it was part of the government. And Porter was "in office" at the time. Richrakh ( talk) 05:31, 6 July 2012 (UTC)
Personal attacks don't help your case. I dispute that Liddy and many others met any sort of reasonable criterion for "politician" or "holding public office" at the time of their crimes. Indeed, given the current usage on the page, there is no clear reason to exclude E. Howard Hunt, since the justification for Liddy is that he worked for the White House (ie, for The Plumbers). Similarly, James W. McCord, Jr., Frank Sturgis et al worked for CREEP, just like Magruder and Porter. Magruder and Porter worked at the White House before CREEP, but so what? McCord worked at the CIA. Throw as many dictionary definitions around as you like, the inclusion criteria, as currently applied on the page, are murky as hell. Hairhorn ( talk) 23:53, 17 July 2012 (UTC)
References
"... convicted of crimes while holding office in the federal government." This wording is ambiguous; presumably the intention is to list people who where convicted of crimes they committed while in office, the actual date of conviction seems less significant.
Further, there are some candidates that may be included or excluded depending on your reading of the line in question.
This is another area where the inclusion criteria need tightening up. Hairhorn ( talk) 02:07, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
Should this list be of politicians convicted of crimes committed while in office (but perhaps convicted later), or of politicians convicted while in office (but maybe for crimes committed before they took office), or should it include both? Whichever way, it should be made clear in the lead. FurrySings ( talk) 02:15, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
Adding them again requires following WP:CONSENSUS which they do not currently have. And all entries must conform with WP:BLP for living persons. Lastly, Wikipedia has this really funny principle that material in articles should actually fall into the topic of the article. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 11:36, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
I can't believe you put McCord in; that's just laughable. Hairhorn ( talk) 15:42, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
References
Should be excised from this list - there was discussion a while back, and the list is replete with people who are not politicians entirely. Collect ( talk) 21:04, 29 October 2012 (UTC)
Placing party affiliation on appointees (such as assistants, the head of the FDA, etc) completely misunderstands what party affiliation is. Party affiliation is for elected officials, and it shows which party they represent. It is not about who you vote for, who your employer is, or even if you are a registered Democrat or Republican voter. Thus Mark Zachares should not have an (R)... voting Republican or even working for a Republican doesn't get you party affiliation.. this is just an unquestioned assumption on someone's part. If you think it isn't, ask yourself what party affiliation you would give to Robert Gates, who was Defense Secretary under Democrat and Republican presidents.
Many appointees shouldn't be here in the first place. This all looks sadly like the slow creep of non-politicians that we've had before. Indeed, Lester Crawford, whose party affiliation I removed, was previously removed as a non-politician but has somehow crept back. Hairhorn ( talk) 01:11, 27 January 2013 (UTC)
Is it time to start a list named per this section to handle all the non-political federal officials who are convicted of crimes? Hmains ( talk) 23:11, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
Pointing out that this list should contain only "politicians" as stated in the lead and title. If we were to include every "appointee" it would contain thousands of names, and unless someone wishes to make such a list, they do not belong here. Collect ( talk) 12:23, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
This list is of politicians who held federal office. This is not the same as "anyone working for the government who belongs to a political party." There was no consensus ever reached to include minor functionaries, many of whom do not remotely qualify as "politicians" under any definition. We did have one editor, now blocked, who demurred with many voices. Collect ( talk) 22:07, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
The neat try to change the article to include all federal office holders was out-of-process. I would further note such a list would be intrinsically un-encyclopedic as covering many, many thousands of people over the years.
Collect (
talk) 12:51, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
You need to read and follow the WP article Poltician which is part of the inclusion criteria for this article. High level decision makers (not necessarily elected) are included as politicians. Your single person campaign against this does not change the facts. Hmains ( talk) 02:58, 27 December 2014 (UTC)
Surely Spiro Agnew belongs here, no? Given the lengthy debates on who's in and who's out, I figured I'd ask before adding him. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 07:55, 13 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) "Prosecution" requires an actual act of prosecution - such as the issuing of an indictment. Where no such act occurred, then "prosecution" has not occurred. And Black does not assert otherwise. Indictment? After the resignation. Trial? After the resignation. "Investigation" is not prosecution under any definition. Else we should list GWBush as a War Criminal, LBJ as a War Criminal, ALincoln as a War Criminal, AJohnson as a criminal (actually "indicted" in his case by Congress), FDR as a War Criminal and so on. Accusations are cheap (as are foreign indictments quite apparently) I fear this disappoints you, but if you wish to change the article criterion "or accused of any crime" then I suggest you seek WP:CONSENSUS for such a change. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 12:43, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
After extensive discussion with Collect, I've decided to add Spiro Agnew to the section on the Nixon presidency.
Although Collect and I disagree on whether Agnew should be included in this article, I am confident that he should be included. The article lead says it covers "convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government." There is no question that Agnew was convicted of a crime; the only question is whether he was prosecuted for it while holding Federal office.
Given the common and legal definitions of "prosecution" I brought out in our discussion, I think there's no question that Agnew was prosecuted while still in office, even though his plea and conviction took place shortly ("minutes") after resigning. Prosecution may be best known as something associated with a trial, but in practical fact, prosecution is initiated when a credible accusation is received and a decision is made by the prosecutor's office to take the case forward. (I agree that the portion of the investigation conducted by a police agency is not part of the prosecution; this is where the credibility is established that justifies the prosecution.)
Although this analysis seems conclusive in itself, it is also supported by the United States Attorney Manual, Title 9, Chapter 27, "Principles of Federal Prosecution" ( http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/27mcrm.htm ), which describes one specific act that certainly took place while Agnew was in office-- formal plea bargaining-- as an element exclusively associated with the prosecution process. Collect seems to agree that if any act exclusively associated with prosecution takes place while the subject is in office, the subject was "prosecuted while holding office." Even if we continue to disagree about the relevance of other activities, plea bargaining is unambiguous.
Since it seems to me that the letter and spirit of this article, the previous discussions here about who should and shouldn't be included in it, and the facts of the Agnew case are all consistent in supporting Agnew's inclusion, I am confident that this is the right course of action.
The text I've added is minimal by intent, avoiding anything but the bare fact of the conviction, allowing readers to seek more information on the Spiro Agnew page if desired.
I'm entirely open to further discussion on the matter, of course. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 21:38, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician’s tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office.
Cheers. Collect ( talk) 22:28, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
This article specifies:
Was Spiro Agnew convicted while in Federal office or prosecuted while in Federal office for "acts committed while (he) was in office"? 23:12, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
This is an interesting case - as the "prosecution" of Agnew was not made until after his resignation, as there were Constitutional issues involved about indicting a Vice President who was still in office (with the Constitutional lawyers stating that the prosecution of a Vice President is done by impeachment). The crimes were specifically not committed while in Federal office, which has been the standard for this list in the past. Agnew was not a wonderful person, but the novel new interpretation being sought would have us list Andrew Johnson as being prosecuted, Bill Clinton as being prosecuted (each via impeachment), and George W. Bush for "war crimes" (prosecuted in a foreign venue), and so on. My feeling is that we must abide by what the article states, and not by what we wish it states as its ambit. The term "while they were in office" clearly refers here to the anteceding "politician's tenure (in Federal office)." Collect ( talk) 23:12, 23 January 2015 (UTC) Note also the preceding discussions which discussed "federal office." Collect ( talk) 23:24, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
Agnew was prosecuted while in Federal office, and the prosecution resulted in his removal from Federal office. This statement is clearly and unambiguously factual by the traditional definitions of the words, as explained above, not by a "novel new interpretation." There is no risk that accepting this edit would also require the inclusion of Johnson, Clinton, or Bush in this article since none of them were convicted of crimes, the first and most important requirement for inclusion here. That fact seems obvious enough that simply making the argument is inappropriate. Regarding the final sentence in the article lead ("The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician’s tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office"), it specifically does not say "tenure in Federal office" or "while they were in Federal office," so that reference too is a red herring. I'd be happy to participate in a discussion of changes to the text mentioning Agnew, or in a discussion of changes to the article lead, but while the lead says what it says, Agnew is within the scope of the article, and including him in the article improves the article. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 00:11, 24 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) Wikipedia does not use "common knowledge" but requires reliable sources making claims. And in fact it is not all that rare to be officially charged and settled in a single day, so we can not use that either. Sorry. Collect ( talk) 19:39, 25 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) The plea is made when it is made in court and only then. Fact. Wiktionary != legal dictionary. Fact. The charge was specifically about 1967 and only about 1967. Fact. Agnew was not in federal office in 1967. Fact. I am simply following Wikipedia policy here, and regret your attack on me personally. Collect ( talk) 01:30, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
Fact: Agnew was in court for the plea hearing when he was Vice President. Fact: He plea bargained with prosecutors when he was Vice President. Fact: He evaded paying the taxes he owed all through his Vice Presidency. Fact: He was convicted of tax evasion and ordered pay $160,000. and a $10,000 fine on an initial $29,500 failure to report income - a failure to report that he continued while in the Vice Presidency. Fact: The Justice Department found he received money while he was Vice President. Fact: He did not pay the money to the government when he legally owed it to them continuing to evade his tax obligation during the time he was Vice President and - he was convicted of evasion and ordered to pay for it all. Alanscottwalker ( talk) 03:13, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
The current lead paragraph says:
I think there is consensus that the first and last sentences are at least partially contradictory. The first sentence says that "crimes... prosecuted while holding office in the federal government" are in scope, but the last sentence says that some such crimes don't count. This exception dates back to before the list was restricted to federal politicians, and in my opinion at least, does not make sense because it may tend to exclude some subjects that truly ought to be included in the article, subjects that any reader would reasonably expect to find here given the title of the article, which (I believe) is clearly expressed and makes good sense.
So I'd like to propose a new lead that is generally similar to this one, but clearer and easier to interpret. My intention is to implement this three-part basic standard for inclusion:
I am not sure I can list all possible material adverse effects, but I am sure that at least these things qualify:
Any of these conditions implies that the subject failed in some way to carry out the duties of the office or that the subject's ability to carry out those duties was impaired, for example by taking the subject's time away from those duties, distracting the subject from those duties, or reducing the public's confidence in the subject.
If more such conditions can be defined, thus justifying the addition of more names to the list, I think that's fine. I think it's more important to find good reasons to expand the list than to shrink it, as long as the basic standard is met. We can always discuss and achieve consensus on new conditions as they are proposed, now or later.
As far as the definitions of the words used here, my intention is that they all mean what they normally mean. Politicians are those who are in office as the result of a political process such as an election. Federal office means an elected office in the US federal government; a career politician appointed to some non-elected position (e.g. cabinet secretary, chief of staff, ambassadorship, etc.) doesn't qualify because they are serving as an employee, not a politician. (I do intend to include those appointed to elected office by a superior office-holder in exceptional cases, such as filling a vacancy until the next election, even if the person wasn't previously a politician, because in such a case the person IS serving as a politician... but we could talk about that.) Convictions can be the result of a trial or a confession. Crimes are those defined by the relevant criminal codes. Removal from office may be the result of any legal process including but not limited to impeachment.
So here's what I propose the new lead should say:
I welcome all comments. Please note that I do not intend this section to be used to discuss what the article lead DOES say, only what it SHOULD say. Also, I'd like to thank Collect for contributing several of the ideas I've used in this proposal, although any infelicities are entirely my own responsibility. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 01:03, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
"Adverse effect" is a non-starter as intrinsically being ill-defined. The criterion should be whether a felony was committed by the person while in Federal office, and the person convicted thereof. DUIs etc. should not be here, for example.
Simple, and would remove some of the really minor examples currently in the list. And we should also correct the typo in the name of the article while we are at it. And eliminate all the "second assistant deputy secretaries of the interior" who may not even be "politicians" in the usual sense of the word, as well as judges who frequently were not "politicians" in the usual sense of the word either.. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 01:36, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
John Pickering (judge)
Grant's unnamed associates ("Whiskey Ring")
1921-3 Forbes and Miller (minor unelected positions)
1923-9 English (judge - and not even convicted AFAICT here)
1963-9 Ted Kennedy (not felony)
1977-81 "Koreagate" (convictions seem missing now - but Richard T. Hanna should actually be added for a gain of one entry)
1981-9 2 judges
1989-93 2 Judges and the "Treasurer of the United States" whose only function is to make the second signature on dollar bills. Very far down any political totem pole, and likely lower than Ambassador to Mongolia <g>
1993-2001
2001-9 Larry Craig (non felony "lewd conduct")
2009-
7 removals for non-felony, 1 added , 7 judges out, 6 pretty minor folks out (I did not yank Agnew for this exercise even though I find him a better fit for the "state and local" list as showing when the crimes took place), and one "catchall" removed where no one except the president (Grant) is named in the list, and he had nothing directly to do with the scandal AFAICT - his private secretary (Gen. Babcock) was acquitted.
Too much of a change in nature of the list? The non-felonies seem to be worth removing - including Kennedy at this point. Collect ( talk) 22:37, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
I am unsure whether "assistant to the President" per se is a substantial "political office" alas. I still think judges in general, even if removed for felonies, are not considered "politicians" and would prefer to err on the side of exclusion in such cases. And while I know Villalpando evaded taxes, the office of Treasurer is pretty meaningless in fact, having essentially no control over anything at all other than announcing the new currency designs [21] with a sentence of only four months in prison and nothing in the papers about her release which would typically have been earlier than four months. Let's keep Libby and ditch the judges, ok? While they all had political parties attached to their names, they generally did not engage in political activity as such. And, of course, reword the introduction to the list which I suspect you could do? Cheers. Collect ( talk) 12:57, 27 January 2015 (UTC)
Should misdemeanors be listed as "crimes" in this list? Should people who have not held or run for political office be considered "politicians" for purposes of this list? Should John Adams be identified as the owner of the Alien and Sedition Acts? 20:55, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
I suggest that the answer is "no" in each case. First of all, most misdemeanors do not even get covered about people - singling out a noted person for a misdemeanor just because it was found by an editor here is simply incorrect in my opinion (Craig, Kennedy inter alia). Second, "politician" is generally considered to involve elected or high appointed office. Minor bureaucrats who do not wield "political power" are too minor to have here. Lastly, I can find no source asserting such ownership. Collect ( talk) 20:55, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
If any article needs a concrete definition, it's this one. POLITICIAN - someone who is active in government, usually as an elected official. [2]A definition as only an elected official seems too small, a definition of, anyone active in government, seems too big. May I suggest a definition of anyone elected to office, their appointees and staff. Further, I would accept Collects suggestion to include anyone seeking elected office as well as the heads of political parties. And I would include misdemeanor only if they led to bigger consequences such as resignation. Polarpark ( talk) 19:52, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Generally, I would agree with Collect, but not quite. Cabinet officers should probably be considered "politicians," although they don't run for the job. I don't think congressional staff should be included, or for that matter, judges either, although they apparently are included. Misdemeanors might deserve inclusion in the case of prominent officials, but not those of lower rank - just Congress and the cabinet, perhaps.
Re John Adams, what on earth do you mean by "owner"? He was president when the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed, and he sponsored them, but he wasn't the "owner." I don't think he needs to be named; if anybody wants to know about the acts they can look up the article on them. Wallace McDonald ( talk) 23:24, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
References
Should this page be moved to United States federal politicians convicted of crimes as there is no entity called the American Government?
Also, should there be consistency in naming the sections? Other than those presidents where the full name is necessary for clarity, some list only the last name, while others have the full name (e.g. Herbert Hoover) and some are labeled Presidency while others are Administration. Goldnpuppy ( talk) 16:51, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
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As of 2017-01-25, under Reagan: Executive branch, this says, "James E. Gaines, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy ... was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity and theft ... . He was sentenced to six months in prison.[74] He was sentenced to 33 months in prison." I will delete the last sentence, since it has no reference and was contradicted by the reference for six months. DavidMCEddy ( talk) 01:26, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
As of 2017-01-25, this article has a few gaps and an error.
ERROR: Wm McKinley was president 1897-1901, not 1891-1895, as listed before I looked at it; I fixed that.
RECENT GAP: 1909-1921, the presidencies of Taft (R) and Wilson (D). I added an entry with that title and a note saying, <No criminal convictions of American federal politicians found by contributors to this article>
EARLIER GAP: One entry currently says, "1777–1868". I revised that to say "1777-1891". This gives full coverage from 1777 to the present.
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The lead of the article says the crimes have to be committed or prosecuted while the official was in office. Weiner was not in office when he committed the crime that resulted in his 2017 conviction. "In May, Weiner, 53, pleaded guilty to one charge of transferring obscene material to a minor in federal court in Manhattan. The charges stem from communications that the former congressman had with a 15-year-old girl on social media sites between January and March 2016." http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/25/politics/anthony-weiner-sentencing/index.html Ghostofnemo ( talk) 03:13, 2 October 2017 (UTC)
Ordering by presidential administration the crimes and convictions of individuals with no ties to that particular President seems unusually especially since List of federal political sex scandals in the United States is sorted by decade.-- Mpen320 ( talk) 20:34, 14 November 2017 (UTC)
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The introduction to the article states as follows: "The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office." This language serves to exclude any conviction for an act that took place prior to service as a federal official, given that such act neither occurred within the officer's tenure nor could have stemmed from acts that occurred while in federal office.
Given this restriction on the politicians to be included on the list, Congressman Greg Gianforte does not belong on the list. Gianforte assaulted a reporter during the special-election campaign for the U.S. House seat and pleaded guilty soon after he won the election, but no only was Gianforte not seated as a member of Congress until after the crime, he was not seated until after the plea, allocution and sentencing. Including Gianforte on this list because "the crime took place during the campaign" expands the scope of the article in ways that would be difficult to predict, since any number of federal officers will have committed and been convicted of crimes prior to having taken office. If Gianforte is to be included on the list, then the introductory sentence "The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office." will need to be deleted (or at least greatly modified), and a Pandora's Box will have been opened. I would keep Gianforte out. AuH2ORepublican ( talk) 10:07, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
Should any of the following people be added or do they not meet the right criteria? Tom Barrack, Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen (lawyer), Paul Manafort, Rick Gates (political consultant), George Nader, George Papadopoulos, Roger Stone [26] Andrevan @ 05:26, 1 August 2022 (UTC)
The article appears to be missing many Reagan Administration officials who were indicted and/or convicted for things done during his administration. Coleman1963! ( talk) 20:01, 28 August 2023 (UTC)
What about Talib or Shchiff both were censured for their crimes. What about G Santos who was thrown out of congress, what about AOC mis using campagin funds, what about Omar Ilhan who married her brother for a green card? 2603:9000:8502:191D:B479:9E63:D6AC:95F6 ( talk) 21:48, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
So since the addition of former president Trump to this list has been reverted, I'll be the first to raise the question of how this article should deal with it here.
In my view, Donald Trump's recent conviction for falsification does fall within the scope of this article, which documents "American politicians convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government. The user who removed him from the list, @ AuH2ORepublican, makes the argument that he was convicted after his term expired (true) for crimes that took place before it (false). In making this argument, the user incorrectly states that Trump was convicted for "payments to Stormy Daniels in 2016 to cover up a federal campaign-finance crime in 2016". This is a common misreading of the case; he was in fact convicted not for making payments to Stormy Daniels, but for actions he took to cover up that the payments had been made, i.e. directing Michael Cohen to make false statements in his business records. A cursory look at the indictment shows that the crimes were committed between February and December of 2017, whereas Trump took office on January 20.
AuH2ORepublican also contests Trump's inclusion under the section on his presidency rather than the current administration, arguing that the conviction occurred under Joe Biden, even if Trump did not hold office under him. Although this argument is reasonable, it is inconsistent with how other convicted members of the executive branch have been dealt with on this list, which lists them by the administration with which they served. For example, William P. MacCracken Jr. was convicted during FDR's term but is included under the Calvin Coolidge presidency. Likewise, the conviction of Maurice Stans occurred under Gerald Ford, but he is listed under Nixon. TRCRF22 ( talk) 22:36, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
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Since this article (by human nature) will just continue to get longer, I propose to separate the state section into a separate article which could then belong to its on appropriate set of categories. I propose to do this on Dec 10, 2010. Any questions or comments? Thanks Hmains ( talk) 06:14, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
Sounds good. Richrakh ( talk) 07:16, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
The inclusion criteria states that the conviction must be in a court of law. We also have House of Representatives impeachments sometimes resulting in convictions by the US Senate. I removed some of the impeachment convictions as not being a 'court of law', but I stopped to asked whether the inclusion criteria should instead be changed to include 'impeachment convictions by the US Senate'. Hmains ( talk) 04:54, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
A significant fraction of the entries are not politicians, being connected to a political scandal does not make you a politican. Fawn Hall was not a politican. Neither was Richard Secord. Either needs retitling or a significant clean-out. Hairhorn ( talk) 20:48, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
But a functionary isn't a politician. That would be a pointlessly broad definition of politician that would cover every civil servant, every judge, every police officer.... Hairhorn ( talk) 06:36, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
I would suggest changing the title of the entry then, since we're now talking about anyone who works in government. It's perverse to call a secretary a "federal politician". Hairhorn ( talk) 15:04, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
How is G. Gordon Libby an American Federal politician? He has not run for federal office, nor been appointed to political office. Collect ( talk) 21:01, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
If I understand correctly, contempt of court in a civil case in the US is not a criminal matter, so I'm not clear on why there's an entry for Clinton. Hairhorn ( talk) 04:07, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
So it's open to interpretation. Fair enough. Let's go back to first principles. Do any reliable sources actually describe it as a conviction? Google would suggest not (I tried several other variations too). Alzarian16 ( talk) 21:00, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
References
I have a hard time buying Egil Krogh, G. Gordon Liddy et al as "politicians". Hairhorn ( talk) 19:10, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
No, this list is for people convicted of crimes committed while in public office, what office did Liddy hold? None. Ditto Herbert Porter, who didn't even work in the White House. Now, if you want to argue that Liddy et al worked in government, and are therefore a politicians, then we go down a road where E. Howard Hunt is a politician, Fawn Hall is a politician, every police officer and soldier are politicians. This view was already raised and dismissed in the previous discussion above. Hairhorn ( talk) 17:52, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
Sorry, I just don't see it, your use of "office" is just as problematic. Aides to advisors are politicians? How far down the chain are you willing to go? It's even worse with Porter, who only ever worked for CREEP, but that wasn't part of government, it was a wing of the Republican campaign. Hairhorn ( talk) 01:25, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Please have a look at the previous discussion ("Politicians", above). Hairhorn ( talk) 13:12, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Changing "convicted of crimes while in office" to "convicted of crimes while working as politicians" changes the inclusion criteria considerably; the list is supposed to be about people convicted of crimes they committed while they held a position in government; "working as a politician" is far more vague and can include e.g. private citizens running for office, or people formerly in office who still take on occasional advisory roles (such as ex-presidents). Hairhorn ( talk) 13:23, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
Herbert L. Porter was promoted from his post on the White House staff to the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), as Director of Scheduling [1] Whether it was Nixon, Mitchell or Magruder who actually selected him doesn't matter. They are all politicians.
Creep was organized by Nixon and was NOT part of the standard Republican Party. Attorney General John Mitchell, was tapped to serve as campaign director of the Citizens Committee to Re-Elect the President, headed by acting director Jeb Magruder, who began planning to run a national campaign independently of the Republican National Committee. [2] (emphasis mine) Richrakh ( talk) 04:59, 4 July 2012 (UTC)
What part of the definition of 'politician' don't you understand? Richrakh ( talk) 05:41, 5 July 2012 (UTC)
Now, now. Stay focused. YOU said Creep was part of the Republican party. You were wrong. It was organized by Nixon and run by Mitchell, therefore it was part of the government. And Porter was "in office" at the time. Richrakh ( talk) 05:31, 6 July 2012 (UTC)
Personal attacks don't help your case. I dispute that Liddy and many others met any sort of reasonable criterion for "politician" or "holding public office" at the time of their crimes. Indeed, given the current usage on the page, there is no clear reason to exclude E. Howard Hunt, since the justification for Liddy is that he worked for the White House (ie, for The Plumbers). Similarly, James W. McCord, Jr., Frank Sturgis et al worked for CREEP, just like Magruder and Porter. Magruder and Porter worked at the White House before CREEP, but so what? McCord worked at the CIA. Throw as many dictionary definitions around as you like, the inclusion criteria, as currently applied on the page, are murky as hell. Hairhorn ( talk) 23:53, 17 July 2012 (UTC)
References
"... convicted of crimes while holding office in the federal government." This wording is ambiguous; presumably the intention is to list people who where convicted of crimes they committed while in office, the actual date of conviction seems less significant.
Further, there are some candidates that may be included or excluded depending on your reading of the line in question.
This is another area where the inclusion criteria need tightening up. Hairhorn ( talk) 02:07, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
Should this list be of politicians convicted of crimes committed while in office (but perhaps convicted later), or of politicians convicted while in office (but maybe for crimes committed before they took office), or should it include both? Whichever way, it should be made clear in the lead. FurrySings ( talk) 02:15, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
Adding them again requires following WP:CONSENSUS which they do not currently have. And all entries must conform with WP:BLP for living persons. Lastly, Wikipedia has this really funny principle that material in articles should actually fall into the topic of the article. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 11:36, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
I can't believe you put McCord in; that's just laughable. Hairhorn ( talk) 15:42, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
References
Should be excised from this list - there was discussion a while back, and the list is replete with people who are not politicians entirely. Collect ( talk) 21:04, 29 October 2012 (UTC)
Placing party affiliation on appointees (such as assistants, the head of the FDA, etc) completely misunderstands what party affiliation is. Party affiliation is for elected officials, and it shows which party they represent. It is not about who you vote for, who your employer is, or even if you are a registered Democrat or Republican voter. Thus Mark Zachares should not have an (R)... voting Republican or even working for a Republican doesn't get you party affiliation.. this is just an unquestioned assumption on someone's part. If you think it isn't, ask yourself what party affiliation you would give to Robert Gates, who was Defense Secretary under Democrat and Republican presidents.
Many appointees shouldn't be here in the first place. This all looks sadly like the slow creep of non-politicians that we've had before. Indeed, Lester Crawford, whose party affiliation I removed, was previously removed as a non-politician but has somehow crept back. Hairhorn ( talk) 01:11, 27 January 2013 (UTC)
Is it time to start a list named per this section to handle all the non-political federal officials who are convicted of crimes? Hmains ( talk) 23:11, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
Pointing out that this list should contain only "politicians" as stated in the lead and title. If we were to include every "appointee" it would contain thousands of names, and unless someone wishes to make such a list, they do not belong here. Collect ( talk) 12:23, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
This list is of politicians who held federal office. This is not the same as "anyone working for the government who belongs to a political party." There was no consensus ever reached to include minor functionaries, many of whom do not remotely qualify as "politicians" under any definition. We did have one editor, now blocked, who demurred with many voices. Collect ( talk) 22:07, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
The neat try to change the article to include all federal office holders was out-of-process. I would further note such a list would be intrinsically un-encyclopedic as covering many, many thousands of people over the years.
Collect (
talk) 12:51, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
You need to read and follow the WP article Poltician which is part of the inclusion criteria for this article. High level decision makers (not necessarily elected) are included as politicians. Your single person campaign against this does not change the facts. Hmains ( talk) 02:58, 27 December 2014 (UTC)
Surely Spiro Agnew belongs here, no? Given the lengthy debates on who's in and who's out, I figured I'd ask before adding him. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 07:55, 13 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) "Prosecution" requires an actual act of prosecution - such as the issuing of an indictment. Where no such act occurred, then "prosecution" has not occurred. And Black does not assert otherwise. Indictment? After the resignation. Trial? After the resignation. "Investigation" is not prosecution under any definition. Else we should list GWBush as a War Criminal, LBJ as a War Criminal, ALincoln as a War Criminal, AJohnson as a criminal (actually "indicted" in his case by Congress), FDR as a War Criminal and so on. Accusations are cheap (as are foreign indictments quite apparently) I fear this disappoints you, but if you wish to change the article criterion "or accused of any crime" then I suggest you seek WP:CONSENSUS for such a change. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 12:43, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
After extensive discussion with Collect, I've decided to add Spiro Agnew to the section on the Nixon presidency.
Although Collect and I disagree on whether Agnew should be included in this article, I am confident that he should be included. The article lead says it covers "convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government." There is no question that Agnew was convicted of a crime; the only question is whether he was prosecuted for it while holding Federal office.
Given the common and legal definitions of "prosecution" I brought out in our discussion, I think there's no question that Agnew was prosecuted while still in office, even though his plea and conviction took place shortly ("minutes") after resigning. Prosecution may be best known as something associated with a trial, but in practical fact, prosecution is initiated when a credible accusation is received and a decision is made by the prosecutor's office to take the case forward. (I agree that the portion of the investigation conducted by a police agency is not part of the prosecution; this is where the credibility is established that justifies the prosecution.)
Although this analysis seems conclusive in itself, it is also supported by the United States Attorney Manual, Title 9, Chapter 27, "Principles of Federal Prosecution" ( http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/27mcrm.htm ), which describes one specific act that certainly took place while Agnew was in office-- formal plea bargaining-- as an element exclusively associated with the prosecution process. Collect seems to agree that if any act exclusively associated with prosecution takes place while the subject is in office, the subject was "prosecuted while holding office." Even if we continue to disagree about the relevance of other activities, plea bargaining is unambiguous.
Since it seems to me that the letter and spirit of this article, the previous discussions here about who should and shouldn't be included in it, and the facts of the Agnew case are all consistent in supporting Agnew's inclusion, I am confident that this is the right course of action.
The text I've added is minimal by intent, avoiding anything but the bare fact of the conviction, allowing readers to seek more information on the Spiro Agnew page if desired.
I'm entirely open to further discussion on the matter, of course. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 21:38, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician’s tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office.
Cheers. Collect ( talk) 22:28, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
This article specifies:
Was Spiro Agnew convicted while in Federal office or prosecuted while in Federal office for "acts committed while (he) was in office"? 23:12, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
This is an interesting case - as the "prosecution" of Agnew was not made until after his resignation, as there were Constitutional issues involved about indicting a Vice President who was still in office (with the Constitutional lawyers stating that the prosecution of a Vice President is done by impeachment). The crimes were specifically not committed while in Federal office, which has been the standard for this list in the past. Agnew was not a wonderful person, but the novel new interpretation being sought would have us list Andrew Johnson as being prosecuted, Bill Clinton as being prosecuted (each via impeachment), and George W. Bush for "war crimes" (prosecuted in a foreign venue), and so on. My feeling is that we must abide by what the article states, and not by what we wish it states as its ambit. The term "while they were in office" clearly refers here to the anteceding "politician's tenure (in Federal office)." Collect ( talk) 23:12, 23 January 2015 (UTC) Note also the preceding discussions which discussed "federal office." Collect ( talk) 23:24, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
Agnew was prosecuted while in Federal office, and the prosecution resulted in his removal from Federal office. This statement is clearly and unambiguously factual by the traditional definitions of the words, as explained above, not by a "novel new interpretation." There is no risk that accepting this edit would also require the inclusion of Johnson, Clinton, or Bush in this article since none of them were convicted of crimes, the first and most important requirement for inclusion here. That fact seems obvious enough that simply making the argument is inappropriate. Regarding the final sentence in the article lead ("The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician’s tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office"), it specifically does not say "tenure in Federal office" or "while they were in Federal office," so that reference too is a red herring. I'd be happy to participate in a discussion of changes to the text mentioning Agnew, or in a discussion of changes to the article lead, but while the lead says what it says, Agnew is within the scope of the article, and including him in the article improves the article. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 00:11, 24 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) Wikipedia does not use "common knowledge" but requires reliable sources making claims. And in fact it is not all that rare to be officially charged and settled in a single day, so we can not use that either. Sorry. Collect ( talk) 19:39, 25 January 2015 (UTC)
(od) The plea is made when it is made in court and only then. Fact. Wiktionary != legal dictionary. Fact. The charge was specifically about 1967 and only about 1967. Fact. Agnew was not in federal office in 1967. Fact. I am simply following Wikipedia policy here, and regret your attack on me personally. Collect ( talk) 01:30, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
Fact: Agnew was in court for the plea hearing when he was Vice President. Fact: He plea bargained with prosecutors when he was Vice President. Fact: He evaded paying the taxes he owed all through his Vice Presidency. Fact: He was convicted of tax evasion and ordered pay $160,000. and a $10,000 fine on an initial $29,500 failure to report income - a failure to report that he continued while in the Vice Presidency. Fact: The Justice Department found he received money while he was Vice President. Fact: He did not pay the money to the government when he legally owed it to them continuing to evade his tax obligation during the time he was Vice President and - he was convicted of evasion and ordered to pay for it all. Alanscottwalker ( talk) 03:13, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
The current lead paragraph says:
I think there is consensus that the first and last sentences are at least partially contradictory. The first sentence says that "crimes... prosecuted while holding office in the federal government" are in scope, but the last sentence says that some such crimes don't count. This exception dates back to before the list was restricted to federal politicians, and in my opinion at least, does not make sense because it may tend to exclude some subjects that truly ought to be included in the article, subjects that any reader would reasonably expect to find here given the title of the article, which (I believe) is clearly expressed and makes good sense.
So I'd like to propose a new lead that is generally similar to this one, but clearer and easier to interpret. My intention is to implement this three-part basic standard for inclusion:
I am not sure I can list all possible material adverse effects, but I am sure that at least these things qualify:
Any of these conditions implies that the subject failed in some way to carry out the duties of the office or that the subject's ability to carry out those duties was impaired, for example by taking the subject's time away from those duties, distracting the subject from those duties, or reducing the public's confidence in the subject.
If more such conditions can be defined, thus justifying the addition of more names to the list, I think that's fine. I think it's more important to find good reasons to expand the list than to shrink it, as long as the basic standard is met. We can always discuss and achieve consensus on new conditions as they are proposed, now or later.
As far as the definitions of the words used here, my intention is that they all mean what they normally mean. Politicians are those who are in office as the result of a political process such as an election. Federal office means an elected office in the US federal government; a career politician appointed to some non-elected position (e.g. cabinet secretary, chief of staff, ambassadorship, etc.) doesn't qualify because they are serving as an employee, not a politician. (I do intend to include those appointed to elected office by a superior office-holder in exceptional cases, such as filling a vacancy until the next election, even if the person wasn't previously a politician, because in such a case the person IS serving as a politician... but we could talk about that.) Convictions can be the result of a trial or a confession. Crimes are those defined by the relevant criminal codes. Removal from office may be the result of any legal process including but not limited to impeachment.
So here's what I propose the new lead should say:
I welcome all comments. Please note that I do not intend this section to be used to discuss what the article lead DOES say, only what it SHOULD say. Also, I'd like to thank Collect for contributing several of the ideas I've used in this proposal, although any infelicities are entirely my own responsibility. 71.197.166.72 ( talk) 01:03, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
"Adverse effect" is a non-starter as intrinsically being ill-defined. The criterion should be whether a felony was committed by the person while in Federal office, and the person convicted thereof. DUIs etc. should not be here, for example.
Simple, and would remove some of the really minor examples currently in the list. And we should also correct the typo in the name of the article while we are at it. And eliminate all the "second assistant deputy secretaries of the interior" who may not even be "politicians" in the usual sense of the word, as well as judges who frequently were not "politicians" in the usual sense of the word either.. Cheers. Collect ( talk) 01:36, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
John Pickering (judge)
Grant's unnamed associates ("Whiskey Ring")
1921-3 Forbes and Miller (minor unelected positions)
1923-9 English (judge - and not even convicted AFAICT here)
1963-9 Ted Kennedy (not felony)
1977-81 "Koreagate" (convictions seem missing now - but Richard T. Hanna should actually be added for a gain of one entry)
1981-9 2 judges
1989-93 2 Judges and the "Treasurer of the United States" whose only function is to make the second signature on dollar bills. Very far down any political totem pole, and likely lower than Ambassador to Mongolia <g>
1993-2001
2001-9 Larry Craig (non felony "lewd conduct")
2009-
7 removals for non-felony, 1 added , 7 judges out, 6 pretty minor folks out (I did not yank Agnew for this exercise even though I find him a better fit for the "state and local" list as showing when the crimes took place), and one "catchall" removed where no one except the president (Grant) is named in the list, and he had nothing directly to do with the scandal AFAICT - his private secretary (Gen. Babcock) was acquitted.
Too much of a change in nature of the list? The non-felonies seem to be worth removing - including Kennedy at this point. Collect ( talk) 22:37, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
I am unsure whether "assistant to the President" per se is a substantial "political office" alas. I still think judges in general, even if removed for felonies, are not considered "politicians" and would prefer to err on the side of exclusion in such cases. And while I know Villalpando evaded taxes, the office of Treasurer is pretty meaningless in fact, having essentially no control over anything at all other than announcing the new currency designs [21] with a sentence of only four months in prison and nothing in the papers about her release which would typically have been earlier than four months. Let's keep Libby and ditch the judges, ok? While they all had political parties attached to their names, they generally did not engage in political activity as such. And, of course, reword the introduction to the list which I suspect you could do? Cheers. Collect ( talk) 12:57, 27 January 2015 (UTC)
Should misdemeanors be listed as "crimes" in this list? Should people who have not held or run for political office be considered "politicians" for purposes of this list? Should John Adams be identified as the owner of the Alien and Sedition Acts? 20:55, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
I suggest that the answer is "no" in each case. First of all, most misdemeanors do not even get covered about people - singling out a noted person for a misdemeanor just because it was found by an editor here is simply incorrect in my opinion (Craig, Kennedy inter alia). Second, "politician" is generally considered to involve elected or high appointed office. Minor bureaucrats who do not wield "political power" are too minor to have here. Lastly, I can find no source asserting such ownership. Collect ( talk) 20:55, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
If any article needs a concrete definition, it's this one. POLITICIAN - someone who is active in government, usually as an elected official. [2]A definition as only an elected official seems too small, a definition of, anyone active in government, seems too big. May I suggest a definition of anyone elected to office, their appointees and staff. Further, I would accept Collects suggestion to include anyone seeking elected office as well as the heads of political parties. And I would include misdemeanor only if they led to bigger consequences such as resignation. Polarpark ( talk) 19:52, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Generally, I would agree with Collect, but not quite. Cabinet officers should probably be considered "politicians," although they don't run for the job. I don't think congressional staff should be included, or for that matter, judges either, although they apparently are included. Misdemeanors might deserve inclusion in the case of prominent officials, but not those of lower rank - just Congress and the cabinet, perhaps.
Re John Adams, what on earth do you mean by "owner"? He was president when the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed, and he sponsored them, but he wasn't the "owner." I don't think he needs to be named; if anybody wants to know about the acts they can look up the article on them. Wallace McDonald ( talk) 23:24, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
References
Should this page be moved to United States federal politicians convicted of crimes as there is no entity called the American Government?
Also, should there be consistency in naming the sections? Other than those presidents where the full name is necessary for clarity, some list only the last name, while others have the full name (e.g. Herbert Hoover) and some are labeled Presidency while others are Administration. Goldnpuppy ( talk) 16:51, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
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As of 2017-01-25, under Reagan: Executive branch, this says, "James E. Gaines, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy ... was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity and theft ... . He was sentenced to six months in prison.[74] He was sentenced to 33 months in prison." I will delete the last sentence, since it has no reference and was contradicted by the reference for six months. DavidMCEddy ( talk) 01:26, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
As of 2017-01-25, this article has a few gaps and an error.
ERROR: Wm McKinley was president 1897-1901, not 1891-1895, as listed before I looked at it; I fixed that.
RECENT GAP: 1909-1921, the presidencies of Taft (R) and Wilson (D). I added an entry with that title and a note saying, <No criminal convictions of American federal politicians found by contributors to this article>
EARLIER GAP: One entry currently says, "1777–1868". I revised that to say "1777-1891". This gives full coverage from 1777 to the present.
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The lead of the article says the crimes have to be committed or prosecuted while the official was in office. Weiner was not in office when he committed the crime that resulted in his 2017 conviction. "In May, Weiner, 53, pleaded guilty to one charge of transferring obscene material to a minor in federal court in Manhattan. The charges stem from communications that the former congressman had with a 15-year-old girl on social media sites between January and March 2016." http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/25/politics/anthony-weiner-sentencing/index.html Ghostofnemo ( talk) 03:13, 2 October 2017 (UTC)
Ordering by presidential administration the crimes and convictions of individuals with no ties to that particular President seems unusually especially since List of federal political sex scandals in the United States is sorted by decade.-- Mpen320 ( talk) 20:34, 14 November 2017 (UTC)
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The introduction to the article states as follows: "The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office." This language serves to exclude any conviction for an act that took place prior to service as a federal official, given that such act neither occurred within the officer's tenure nor could have stemmed from acts that occurred while in federal office.
Given this restriction on the politicians to be included on the list, Congressman Greg Gianforte does not belong on the list. Gianforte assaulted a reporter during the special-election campaign for the U.S. House seat and pleaded guilty soon after he won the election, but no only was Gianforte not seated as a member of Congress until after the crime, he was not seated until after the plea, allocution and sentencing. Including Gianforte on this list because "the crime took place during the campaign" expands the scope of the article in ways that would be difficult to predict, since any number of federal officers will have committed and been convicted of crimes prior to having taken office. If Gianforte is to be included on the list, then the introductory sentence "The list also does not include crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts while they were in office." will need to be deleted (or at least greatly modified), and a Pandora's Box will have been opened. I would keep Gianforte out. AuH2ORepublican ( talk) 10:07, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
Should any of the following people be added or do they not meet the right criteria? Tom Barrack, Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen (lawyer), Paul Manafort, Rick Gates (political consultant), George Nader, George Papadopoulos, Roger Stone [26] Andrevan @ 05:26, 1 August 2022 (UTC)
The article appears to be missing many Reagan Administration officials who were indicted and/or convicted for things done during his administration. Coleman1963! ( talk) 20:01, 28 August 2023 (UTC)
What about Talib or Shchiff both were censured for their crimes. What about G Santos who was thrown out of congress, what about AOC mis using campagin funds, what about Omar Ilhan who married her brother for a green card? 2603:9000:8502:191D:B479:9E63:D6AC:95F6 ( talk) 21:48, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
So since the addition of former president Trump to this list has been reverted, I'll be the first to raise the question of how this article should deal with it here.
In my view, Donald Trump's recent conviction for falsification does fall within the scope of this article, which documents "American politicians convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government. The user who removed him from the list, @ AuH2ORepublican, makes the argument that he was convicted after his term expired (true) for crimes that took place before it (false). In making this argument, the user incorrectly states that Trump was convicted for "payments to Stormy Daniels in 2016 to cover up a federal campaign-finance crime in 2016". This is a common misreading of the case; he was in fact convicted not for making payments to Stormy Daniels, but for actions he took to cover up that the payments had been made, i.e. directing Michael Cohen to make false statements in his business records. A cursory look at the indictment shows that the crimes were committed between February and December of 2017, whereas Trump took office on January 20.
AuH2ORepublican also contests Trump's inclusion under the section on his presidency rather than the current administration, arguing that the conviction occurred under Joe Biden, even if Trump did not hold office under him. Although this argument is reasonable, it is inconsistent with how other convicted members of the executive branch have been dealt with on this list, which lists them by the administration with which they served. For example, William P. MacCracken Jr. was convicted during FDR's term but is included under the Calvin Coolidge presidency. Likewise, the conviction of Maurice Stans occurred under Gerald Ford, but he is listed under Nixon. TRCRF22 ( talk) 22:36, 31 May 2024 (UTC)