Bribery

House Judiciary Democrats Release Report Exposing Trump Family's $800 Million Cryptocurrency Empire Built on Foreign Influence and Self-Dealing

| Importance: 10/10

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a comprehensive staff report revealing that President Donald Trump and his family earned more than $800 million from cryptocurrency ventures in the first half of 2025 alone, with total crypto holdings valued at up to $11.6 …

Jamie Raskin Donald Trump Trump Organization Trump Family Paul Atkins +21 more cryptocurrency corruption self-dealing foreign-influence emoluments +13 more
Read more →

Trump Administration Officially Accepts $400-500 Million Luxury Boeing 747 from Qatar as Air Force One Gift, Sparking Constitutional Crisis Over Foreign Emoluments and Bribery

| Importance: 10/10

The Trump Administration officially accepted a Boeing 747-8 luxury jetliner valued at approximately $400-500 million from the government of Qatar on May 21, 2025, to serve as a new Air Force One presidential aircraft. The acceptance of what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer characterized as …

Donald Trump Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Chuck Schumer Pam Bondi +9 more emoluments bribery corruption foreign-influence national-security +9 more
Read more →

McKinsey Africa Agrees to Pay $122 Million Settlement for Bribery of South African Officials

| Importance: 8/10

McKinsey Africa enters into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay more than $122 million (approximately R2.2 billion) to resolve criminal charges for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The …

McKinsey Africa U.S. Department of Justice Vikas Sagar South African National Prosecuting Authority Transnet +1 more mckinsey south-africa state-capture bribery corruption +5 more
Read more →

Raytheon Pays $950 Million to Settle Charges of Defrauding Pentagon, Bribing Qatar, and Patriot Contract Fraud

| Importance: 9/10

On October 16, 2024, defense contractor RTX (formerly Raytheon) agreed to pay over $950 million to resolve Justice Department investigations into fraudulent billing schemes, foreign bribery, and export control violations spanning more than a decade. The settlement addressed three major criminal …

Raytheon Department of Justice Qatar Department of Defense Greg Hayes raytheon fraud bribery pentagon qatar +3 more
Read more →

Giuliani Associate Sought $2 Million Payment for Trump Pardons

| Importance: 8/10

Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III told federal prosecutors that associates of Rudy Giuliani approached him seeking a $2 million payment to secure presidential pardons for individuals under investigation, according to court filings unsealed in April 2021. The revelation provided direct evidence …

Rudy Giuliani Lev Parnas Igor Fruman Harry Sargeant III Dmytro Firtash +1 more pardons corruption pay-to-play bribery giuliani
Read more →

Trump Reverses ZTE Sanctions After $500M China Loan to Trump Project

| Importance: 8/10

President Trump abruptly reversed U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecom giant ZTE just days after China agreed to provide $500 million in loans to an Indonesian theme park featuring Trump properties. ZTE had been banned from buying U.S. components after violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Trump …

Donald Trump ZTE Corporation China Trump Organization Indonesia corruption china national-security emoluments-clause bribery
Read more →

Former Utah Attorneys General Shurtleff and Swallow arrested on 23 corruption counts

| Importance: 7/10

Former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow were arrested by FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety agents on 23 combined felony and misdemeanor charges including bribery, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and racketeering. Prosecutors alleged both …

Mark Shurtleff John Swallow Jeremy Johnson Marc Sessions Jenson FBI +1 more corruption bribery evidence-tampering minimal-accountability institutional-capture +1 more
Read more →

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges

| Importance: 8/10

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were indicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy by a federal grand jury, making McDonnell the first Virginia governor to be indicted or convicted of a felony. The charges stemmed from their acceptance of more than $175,000 in gifts, …

Bob McDonnell Maureen McDonnell Jonnie Williams congressional corruption gubernatorial corruption republican party virginia bribery +2 more
Read more →

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Arrested for Attempting to Sell Obama's Senate Seat

| Importance: 9/10

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested at the governor’s home on federal corruption charges, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. The 76-page FBI affidavit revealed that Blagojevich was captured on …

Rod Blagojevich Barack Obama Patrick Fitzgerald Donald Trump gubernatorial corruption democratic party illinois bribery wire fraud +2 more
Read more →

Questcor Raises Acthar Gel Price from $1,600 to $23,000 Overnight - Eventually Reaching 97,000% Increase Through Bribery Scheme

| Importance: 9/10

Questcor Pharmaceuticals implemented an overnight price increase for H.P. Acthar Gel from $1,600 to $23,000 per vial on August 27, 2007, launching a decade-long price gouging scheme that would eventually raise the drug’s price by 97,000% from its 2001 level. Questcor had acquired Acthar—a …

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Mallinckrodt Federal Trade Commission Humana Congress +1 more pharmaceutical-industry drug-pricing healthcare corporate-fraud bribery +2 more
Read more →

Congressman Bob Ney Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Corruption Scandal

| Importance: 7/10

Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, becoming the first member of Congress convicted in the case. Ney admitted to receiving gifts including golf trips to Scotland, expensive meals, and …

Bob Ney Jack Abramoff House of Representatives Department of Justice Neil Volz +1 more corruption congress abramoff bribery lobbying +1 more
Read more →

Jack Abramoff Pleads Guilty in 5M Corruption Scandal

| Importance: 8/10

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, exposing one of the largest congressional corruption scandals in modern U.S. history. Abramoff and partner Michael Scanlon defrauded Native American tribes of 5 million through inflated lobbying fees and secret kickbacks. The …

Jack Abramoff Michael Scanlon Bob Ney Tom DeLay Steven Griles +2 more corruption lobbying abramoff congress bribery +1 more
Read more →

Rep. Duke Cunningham Pleads Guilty to $2.4 Million Bribery Scheme

| Importance: 9/10

Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. The decorated Vietnam War fighter ace admitted to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for …

Duke Cunningham Mitchell Wade Carol Lam Donald Trump congressional corruption defense contractors bribery republican party military contracts +2 more
Read more →

FBI Finds $90,000 in Cash Hidden in Rep. William Jefferson's Freezer

| Importance: 9/10

FBI agents raided the home of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA) in Northeast Washington and discovered $90,000 in cash hidden in his freezer, wrapped in aluminum foil in $10,000 increments and stuffed inside frozen-food containers. The serial numbers on the currency matched funds the FBI had provided …

William Jefferson Lori Mody congressional corruption bribery democratic party louisiana fbi investigation +2 more
Read more →

Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci Convicted in Operation Plunder Dome Corruption Trial, Sentenced to Five Years for Racketeering Conspiracy

| Importance: 7/10

After a seven-week federal trial, Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Jr. is convicted on June 24, 2002, of one count of racketeering conspiracy as the culmination of Operation Plunder Dome, the FBI’s multi-year undercover investigation into systematic corruption within …

Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr. Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. Attorney's Office U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres Providence City Government corruption racketeering operation-plunder-dome rhode-island municipal-corruption +3 more
Read more →

Interior Secretary Albert Fall Receives $100,000 Cash Bribe from Edward Doheny

| Importance: 9/10

Edward Doheny, oil magnate and head of Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company, delivered $100,000 in cash to Interior Secretary Albert Fall as a “loan” that was never repaid (equivalent to $1.76 million in 2024). This payment preceded Doheny’s company receiving lucrative …

Albert Fall Edward Doheny political-corruption bribery resource-extraction systematic-corruption
Read more →

XYZ Affair Exposes French Diplomatic Bribery Demands and Triggers Quasi-War

| Importance: 7/10

American diplomatic envoys Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry arrive in Paris for peace negotiations but are approached by three French agents (later designated X, Y, and Z in diplomatic correspondence) who demand a $250,000 bribe to Foreign Minister Talleyrand and a $10 …

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Charles Cotesworth Pinckney John Marshall Elbridge Gerry President John Adams diplomatic-corruption foreign-influence bribery political-manipulation
Read more →

Yazoo Land Fraud Represents Largest Corruption Scandal of Early Republic

| Importance: 8/10

Georgia Governor George Mathews signs the Yazoo Act, transferring 35 million acres in present-day Alabama and Mississippi to four land development companies for $500,000—approximately $0.014 per acre—in the largest land fraud perpetrated during the Federalist Era. Georgia’s Federalist U.S. …

Georgia Legislature Governor George Mathews Senator James Gunn Four land development companies land-speculation legislative-corruption bribery elite-corruption systematic-corruption
Read more →