Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested in the Bahamas at the request of U.S. prosecutors and charged with eight criminal counts including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance law violations. The indictment alleges Bankman-Fried orchestrated a scheme to …
Sam Bankman-FriedFTXU.S. Department of JusticeSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)CFTC+1 morecorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechcryptocurrency+3 more
On June 23, 2022, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation arrested Epic Charter Schools co-founders Ben Harris, 46, and David Chaney, 43, along with former CFO Josh Brock, 40, on racketeering, embezzlement, and conspiracy charges related to what State Auditor Cindy Byrd called “the largest …
Ben HarrisDavid ChaneyJosh BrockOklahoma State Bureau of InvestigationState Auditor Cindy Byrd+2 morecharter-schoolsembezzlementeducation-privatizationracketeeringpolitical-corruption+1 more
House January 6th Committee’s second hearing revealed Trump raised $250 million post-election through fraudulent “Official Election Defense Fund” that never existed. Committee found Trump’s team sent up to 25 fraudulent fundraising emails daily, raising $100 million in first …
Donald TrumpTrump CampaignSave America PACHouse January 6th CommitteeZoe Lofgren+1 morefraudcampaign-financekleptocracyjanuary-6-committeebig-lie+2 more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, the largest offshore data leak in history, containing 11.9 million files from 14 financial services companies across multiple jurisdictions. The investigation exposed the secret offshore affairs of 35 …
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)King Abdullah II of JordanAndrej BabišSebastián PiñeraVolodymyr Zelensky+3 morecorruptionoffshore-financetax-avoidancepandora-paperskleptocracy+2 more
The FBI launched an investigation into Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over allegations that he orchestrated an illegal straw donor campaign finance scheme at his former company, New Breed Logistics. Former employees told the Washington Post that DeJoy pressured them to make political donations to …
Louis DeJoyFBICarolyn MaloneyJohn Sarbanescampaign financefbi investigationdejoyuspspolitical corruption+1 more
Maine Governor Paul LePage threatened to withhold $500,000 in state funding from Good Will-Hinckley, a nonprofit charter school serving at-risk youth, to force the organization to rescind a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. Good Will-Hinckley had announced on June 9, 2015 that it …
Paul LePageMark EvesGood Will-Hinckleyabuse-of-powerinstitutional-capturepolitical-corruptionexecutive-overreachretribution+1 more
Boris Yeltsin won re-election as President of Russia in a stunning comeback victory engineered and bankrolled by a coalition of seven oligarchs who became known as the ‘Semibankirshchina’ (seven-banker outfit). Despite approval ratings below 10% earlier in the year, Yeltsin defeated …
Boris YeltsinBoris BerezovskyMikhail KhodorkovskyVladimir GusinskyVladimir Potanin+3 morerussiaoligarchssemibankirshchinaelectionsyeltsin+4 more
Vice President Al Gore attends a fundraising luncheon at the Hsi Lai Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, California, organized by longtime Democratic fundraiser Maria Hsia and DNC fundraiser John Huang. The event raises $166,750 for the Democratic National Committee through illegal contributions …
Al GoreMaria HsiaJohn HuangDemocratic National Committeecampaign-financeillegal-donationspolitical-corruptionelection-interferencemoney-laundering
Documents revealed in February 1997 show that President Bill Clinton and top aides orchestrated a broad fundraising operation during his first term, explicitly using overnight stays in the White House Lincoln Bedroom and other perks to woo and reward major donors. President Clinton personally …
Bill ClintonDemocratic National CommitteeMajor Donorscampaign-financepolitical-corruptioninfluence-peddlingfundraising-scandalwhite-house
Pursuant to the newly reauthorized Ethics in Government Act, a special three-judge division of the D.C. Circuit Court appoints Kenneth Starr, former U.S. Solicitor General under George H.W. Bush, as independent counsel to continue the Whitewater investigation, replacing Robert Fiske. The Special …
Attorney General Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske, a moderate Republican and former U.S. Attorney, as special counsel to investigate the Whitewater controversy involving President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. The investigation focuses on the Clintons’ 1978 investment in the …
Bill ClintonHillary ClintonRobert FiskeJanet Renowhitewaterinvestigationpolitical-corruptionreal-estatearkansas
J.P. Morgan Jr., head of the most powerful banking house in America, testified before the Pecora Commission in hearings that riveted the nation. The New York Times headline on May 24, 1933 blared: “Morgan Paid No Income Tax for 1931 or 1932.” Morgan admitted under oath that he and his …
J.P. Morgan Jr.J.P. Morgan and CompanyFerdinand PecoraU.S. Senate Committee on Banking and CurrencyCalvin Coolidge+1 morefinancial-regulationinsider-tradingcorporate-accountabilitytax-evasionpolitical-corruption
Albert Fall entered the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe to begin serving his one-year sentence for bribery, becoming the first presidential Cabinet member in American history imprisoned for felony crimes committed while in office. Driven by ambulance from El Paso due to poor health, Fall …
Albert Fallinstitutional-accountabilitypolitical-corruptioncriminal-prosecutionhistoric-precedent
Albert Fall, former Secretary of the Interior under President Warren Harding, was found guilty of accepting bribes from oil executive Edward Doheny and sentenced to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Fall became the first presidential Cabinet member in American history to be convicted of a …
Albert FallEdward Dohenypolitical-corruptioninstitutional-accountabilitycriminal-prosecutionhistoric-precedent
D.C. Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan and the most powerful Klan leader in America, is convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Madge Oberholtzer, a state education official. Oberholtzer died from infection after Stephenson abducted, raped, and brutally bit her during a …
D.C. StephensonMadge OberholtzerIndiana Ku Klux KlanEd Jacksonwhite-supremacypolitical-corruptioninstitutional-capturescandal
Between 25,000 and 40,000 Ku Klux Klan members march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., in a massive demonstration of the organization’s political power at its peak. Marchers wear white robes but not masks, proudly displaying their faces in an assertion of mainstream respectability. …
Ku Klux KlanHiram EvansD.C. KlanState Governmentsracisminstitutional-capturewhite-supremacypolitical-corruption
After nine weeks of testimony in federal court in Chicago, a jury convicts Charles Forbes, the first director of the Veterans Bureau, of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, along with construction company president E.H. Mortimer. The conviction stems from a $5,000 bribe Forbes accepted from …
Charles ForbesWarren G. HardingE.H. MortimerJ.W. Thompsonpolitical-corruptionveterans-affairsharding-scandals
The Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys began formal public hearings on the Teapot Dome oil leases, led by Montana Democratic Senator Thomas Walsh. Republican leadership had assigned this junior minority member to chair the inquiry, expecting it to be futile. Walsh, a former prosecutor, …
Thomas WalshAlbert Fallcongressional-oversightpolitical-corruptioninstitutional-accountability
The Ku Klux Klan under Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson completes its takeover of Indiana state government, controlling the Governor’s office, the state legislature, and numerous local governments. Stephenson, a charismatic organizer who built the Indiana Klan from a few thousand members to an …
Wyoming Democratic Senator John Kendrick introduced a resolution calling for investigation of the secret Teapot Dome oil lease deal after a Wyoming oil operator complained about Sinclair receiving the contract through a secret arrangement. Two days after the Wall Street Journal exposed the deal, …
John KendrickRobert La Follettecongressional-oversightinvestigative-journalismpolitical-corruption
Interior Secretary Albert Fall secretly granted Harry Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to extract oil and gas from the Teapot Dome naval petroleum reserve in Wyoming for 20 years, without competitive bidding. Fall locked the contract in his desk and instructed staff to tell no …
Albert FallHarry Sinclairpolitical-corruptionresource-extractionsystematic-corruptionregulatory-capture
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 FallEdward Dohenypolitical-corruptionbriberyresource-extractionsystematic-corruption
Lincoln Steffens published “The Shame of the Cities” in 1904, a groundbreaking collection of articles originally written for McClure’s Magazine that exposed systematic corruption in major American cities including St. Louis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New …
Lincoln SteffensMcClure's Magazineinvestigative-journalismmuckrakingpolitical-corruptionmunicipal-governmentprogressive-era+1 more
Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats meet secretly at Wormley’s Hotel in Washington to negotiate the Compromise of 1877—an unwritten political deal settling the disputed 1876 presidential election by abandoning federal protection of Black civil rights. Southern Democrats agree to accept …
Rutherford B. Hayes (President-elect)Southern DemocratsNorthern RepublicansDisenfranchised Black Americansdemocratic-erosioninstitutional-captureracial-injusticepolitical-corruption
On September 24, 1869—Black Friday—Jay Gould and James Fisk’s conspiracy to corner the gold market collapsed when the U.S. Treasury released $4 million in gold reserves, crashing the price from $163.50 to $133 per $100 in gold specie and triggering a financial panic that ruined hundreds of …
Jay GouldJames FiskPresident Ulysses S. GrantAbel CorbinU.S. Treasuryfinancial-manipulationmarket-manipulationpolitical-corruptiongilded-agesystematic-corruption
The Erie War reached its climax in early March 1868 when Jay Gould, James Fisk, and Daniel Drew, facing arrest warrants from Judge George Barnard after issuing $5 million in fraudulent Erie Railroad stock, fled across the Hudson River to Jersey City with $7 million in cash and watered stock …
Jay GouldJames FiskDaniel DrewCornelius VanderbiltErie Railroad+2 morecorporate-fraudstock-manipulationpolitical-corruptiongilded-agerailroad-consolidation
President John Adams signs the Judiciary Act of 1801 less than three weeks before the end of his term and the Federalist majority in Congress, expanding the federal judiciary by creating sixteen new circuit court judgeships and reducing the Supreme Court from six to five justices. After losing the …
President John AdamsFederalist PartyU.S. SenateWilliam Marburyjudicial-capturecourt-packinglame-duck-powerinstitutional-manipulationpolitical-corruption