James Traficant

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James Traficant
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 17th district
In office January 3, 1985 – July 24, 2002
Preceded by	Lyle Williams
Succeeded by	Timothy J. Ryan
Born	May 8, 1941 (1941-05-08) (age 68) Youngstown, Ohio
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Patricia "Tish" Choppa Traficant
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Anthony Traficant, Jr. (born May 8, 1941) is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio (from 1985 to 2002). He was expelled after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C.,^[1] and is currently serving an eight-year prison term with a projected release date of September 2, 2009.^[2]

The Youngstown Vindicator^[3] reported that on March 9, 2009 Traficant would "report to Community Corrections Association (CCA^[4]), a halfway facility" in Youngstown, Ohio, where he would serve out the rest of his term, be expected to find a full-time job, and be able to go home for limited weekend visits.

Numerous other news organizations (including the UPI^[5]) picked up this unverified story and trumpeted it nationwide.^[6] But Traficant has reportedly stated^[7] that he will not accept the DOJ's invitation to be supervised on early release by Richard J. Billak (the CEO of CCA), who made what Traficant considered material misrepresentations to the Court during Traficant's 2002 trial.^[8] On Monday, January 12, 2009, Billak stated that he had received an e-mail from the federal Bureau of Prisons canceling Traficant's placement. ^[9]

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Independent voice 3 Indictment, Conviction, Testimony to House Ethics, and Expulsion from Congress 4 Notes 5 External links 6 See also

[edit] Early life and career

Born into a working-class, Catholic family in Youngstown, Ohio, Traficant graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 (where he was a standout in football), was drafted into the NFL at number 276 by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1963, and obtained a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and another from Youngstown State University. He was the executive director of the Mahoning County Drug Program from 1971 to 1981 and sheriff of Mahoning County from 1981 to 1985. While serving as sheriff, Traficant made national headlines by refusing to execute foreclosure orders on several unemployed homeowners, many of whom had been left unemployed by the recent closures of steel mills. This endeared him to the local population, which had long derived its wealth from steel and steel-associated businesses.^[10] In 1983, he was charged with racketeering for accepting bribes. Traficant, who represented himself in the criminal trial, argued that he accepted the bribes only as part of an undercover investigation into corruption. Traficant was acquitted of the charges, becoming the only person ever to win a RICO case while representing himself.

Publicity from the RICO trial increased Traficant's local visibility. He was elected as a Democrat to Congress from Ohio's 17th District, defeating Lyle Williams, a three-term Republican incumbent. He was reelected eight times without serious opposition.

On April 12, 2002, after a two-month federal trial, a jury found Traficant guilty of bribery and other charges. He was sentenced to a federal prison, where he is currently serving eight years. He was expelled from the U.S. Congress on July 24, 2002.

[edit] Independent voice

In the House, Traficant was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Democratic caucus with his eccentric behavior, an image he embraced. He often dressed poorly, with narrow neck ties (then out of style), wide-lapelled sportcoats and an occasional denim suit. He also sported an ugly, unkempt pompadour, which he jokingly claimed he cut with a weed whacker (it was revealed, after his conviction, that he wore a toupee). Casting himself as a rough-hewn populist and "regular guy," he gave speeches that were far outside the staid norms of political speaking. Many people tuned into C-SPAN just to watch his one-minute speeches at the beginning of each day's sitting.^{[citation needed]} His trademark closing lines were "Beam me up... I yield back the fact..." His Website featured a picture of him swinging a two-by-four with the words "Bangin' away in D.C."

After the Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Traficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. However, he voted against all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. After he voted for Republican Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to give him a committee assignment. Because the Republicans did not assign him to any committee, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century without any committee assignment who was not in a leadership position.^{[citation needed]}

Traficant championed the unpopular cause of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian-born autoworker from Seven Hills, who had been convicted in Israel and sentenced to hang for having been the brutal concentration camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." For almost a decade, Traficant was virtually alone (except for columnist Pat Buchanan) in insisting that Demjanjuk had been denied a fair trial and been the victim of mistaken identity; the Supreme Court of Israel eventually overturned the conviction, on the basis of doubt, in 1993. Demjanjuk was later deported to Germany on May 11, 2009 after the Supreme Court refused to overturn his deportation order.

While in Congress, Traficant was a supporter of immigration reduction,^[11] and a strong opponent of illegal immigration. In the controversy surrounding the defeat of Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, Traficant was the only Democratic member of Congress who advocated a new election, due to possible voting in that race by illegal aliens. Sanchez would later introduce a bill expelling Traficant from the House of Representatives.^[12]

[edit] Indictment, Conviction, Testimony to House Ethics, and Expulsion from Congress

In 2002, Traficant was indicted on federal corruption charges for taking campaign funds for personal use. Again, he opted to represent himself, insisting that the trial was part of a vendetta against him dating to his 1983 trial. On April 15, he was convicted of 10 felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion.

After Traficant's conviction, July 16, 2002, the House Committee Standards of Official Conduct convened a misconduct hearing and heard testimony from Richard Detore, who testified on Traficant's behalf (broadcast on C-SPAN).^[13].

Detore testified that the U.S. Attorney Craig Morford, Cleveland prosecutor on the case was witness tampering, committing criminal prosecutorial misconduct related to the alleged Youngstown, Ohio's Cafaro Company's involvement in tax fraud and mafia money-laundering. Cafaro intended for his daughter, Capri Cafaro to run against Traficant in the next congressional election. Capris told Detore that J.J. Cafaro perjured himself throughout his own trial, and that it caused problems for his family. The prosecutor threatened that the IRS would audit him if he did not testify according to a "script", and that he would prove Detore committed bank fraud, which was false. Morford continuously attempted to harass, agitate and intimidate, "yelling, screaming, and throwing papers at" Defore for being "uncooperative", and he "was getting on the wrong train". Detore refused to lie for anyone for any reason, and refused to testify. Detore's home was ransacked. Morford had granted him direct and indirect immunity, but denied it, after Detore refused to testify. "It was a process by ambush...an out-of-body experience." Even with exculpatory evidence, Morford indicted Detore with one count of conspiracy to violate the Federal Bribery Statute by serving as liaison between his former employer, U.S. Aerospace Group, and Traficant, but was acquitted^[14] by a jury. See C-SPAN videos: here^[15][16]

Ohio Congressman Ted Strickland was so disturbed by these sworn and televised allegations of DOJ misconduct that he publicly called for an investigation.^[17] But DOJ 'internal affairs'^[18] ignored Strickland, never investigating either the sworn military earwitness affidavit^[19] or the attorney billing records ^[20] that corroborated the dates/times of harassing witness tampering phone calls testified to on C-SPAN and in the affidavit.

The House Ethics Committee recommended that Traficant be expelled from Congress. On July 24 the House voted 420-1 to expel him. Gary Condit was the lone "no" vote, and nine members voted "present." Traficant was the first representative to be expelled since Michael Myers's expulsion in 1980 as a result of the Abscam scandal.

After his expulsion, Traficant ran as an independent candidate for another term in the House while incarcerated in a federal prison in White Deer, Pennsylvania. He received 15 percent of the vote (27,487 votes) and became one of only a handful of individuals in the history of the United States to run for a federal office from prison. The election was won by one of his former aides, Tim Ryan.

In March 2004, the Federal Bureau of Prisons moved Traficant to the Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook. As of July 2007, the Federal Bureau of Prisons listed Traficant as a resident of the Federal Medical Center, Rochester, an 'administrative facility providing specialized medical and mental health services.' Traficant has taken up artwork while in prison.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James Traficant

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Traficant.com
• FreeTraficant.com
• [1]
• Traficant Speeches and Explusion Hearing Transcript
• "Look at what Traficant swept under the rug" — CNN, August 1, 2002
• Archive of many of Traficant's congressional speeches
• James Traficant Quotes (Humor)
• RBN Radio Broadcast on the Jim Traficant Case (8/03/07)

[edit] See also

• List of United States Representatives from Ohio

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Lyle Williams	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 17th congressional district January 3, 1985 – July 24, 2002	Succeeded by Tim Ryan

Persondata
NAME	Traficant, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Traficant, James Anthony, Jr. (full name); Traficant, Jim (nickname)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Ohio politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 8, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH	Youngstown, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH