Corruption Corrodes Our Democracy

There ain’t no such thing as honest graft

“There’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin’ -- ‘I seen my opportunities and I took ‘em.’” – George W. Plunkitt, 19^th Century New York political boss

The famous Plunkitt was giving a speech when he claimed that when trading favors for cash, the transactions were somehow innocent. His listeners surely knew two things – that he was dishonest AND he didn’t really care who knew it. Indeed, everyone assumed that politicians and officials were on the take. Today, a handful of recent scandals remind us that the corruption of Plunkitt’s era is alive and well. The most egregious involves Donald Trump and the nearly $8 million funneled into his businesses by twenty foreign governments.

Gleaned from a small number of the former president’s 500-plus business entities, the record was reported by House Democrats who only considered payments made during the first two years of his four-year term. According to their 80-page report, the biggest payer by far was China. Others included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and India.

Foreign government spending at a president's businesses would seem to violate a Constitutional ban on officials accepting so-called “emoluments” (gifts intended to curry favor) from foreign states. Outlined in what’s referred to as the emolument clause in the founding document, the prohibition has motivated previous presidents to place their holdings in trust, which they could not direct, for their time in office. Trump announced he was following suit and then reversed himself,  

A second current scandal involves former Representative George Santos, a Republican from Long Island, who was expelled from Congress. (In all of history, only five others have been forced to leave the House.)  Santos has been indicted on charges of identity theft, wire fraud, credit card fraud, and conspiracy. His alleged crimes are related mainly to his political campaigns. Former New York Senator Alphonse D’Amato, a GOPer, considered the record and called Santos a ”two-bit thief” and, said that as the House ejected him “they got him good.”

The Justice Department’s investigation of Santos followed press reports on outlandish claims he had made as he built a public persona. He claimed to have attended schools where he never enrolled, to have worked at institutions where he was never employed, and to be Jewish when he is not. (“This is someone..whose total existence is a lie and a fraud,” said Representative Danial Goldman.) Santos’ baldfaced lying was so pronounced that he became the butt of endless jokes and was parodied on Saturday Night Live. As people have laughed at Santos, I have been reminded of ol’ Plunkitt, who was a remarkably funny man whose sins were a matter of amusement.

Santos and Trump are both Republicans. It’s only fair, then, that I bring up the scandal of United States Senator Robert Menendez, of New Jersey, who is a Democrat. According to the Justice Department, Menendez took bribes to help the governments of Egypt and Qatar. You might remember that when the FBI raided Menendez’s home, they discovered gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.     

It’s important to note that Menendez, now known as Gold Bar Bob, has been in similar trouble before. In 2015 he was accused of accepting nearly $1 million in bribes from a Florida ophthalmologist who was involved in a dispute over payment with Medicare. A deadlocked jury spared him conviction.

You might think that after barely escaping conviction once, Menendez would strive to live a squeaky-clean political life. If the charges he faces are true, then he failed to learn his lesson. Why? I would say it’s because for too many, the temptations and arrogance that come with power are irresistible.

In most corruption cases, arrogance comes first. Visit the Capitol or the White House and you will be astounded by the sense of entitlement you’ll see in the people you meet. I’m not saying everyone is hopelessly arrogant. However, I can say that in Washington arrogance is far more prevalent than anywhere else, except for Hollywood. The difference is that Hollywood types don’t violate the public trust when they take the next step toward corruption. Political figures do.

The damage done by official corruption can be seen in the number of Americans who don’t vote because they are disillusioned and those who resonate with Donald Trump's promise to “drain the swamp.” The fact that he is a swamp creature himself doesn’t register with his true believers, but the message in that phrase – don’t trust the government – evokes their fears.

 As polls have shown, Americans’ faith in their government has declined steadily since the 1960s. This loss of trust has propelled the election of many do-nothing members of Congress who campaign against the body in which they serve. The trust crisis is real. We have the likes of Santos, Trump, and Menendez to thank for it.  And there ain't such a thing as “honest graft.”