Traficant had been an extremely popular Democratic Congressman from rustbelt Ohio who had just been released from spending seven years in prison on charges of corruption. Many people feel Traficant had been railroaded after trying to take on the Jewish lobby and a number of powerful interests.
A documentary on Traficant reports:
“As a mob-busting sheriff in Youngstown, Ohio, his refusal to evict steelworkers from their homes made him a folk hero. He demolished organized crime, defended himself against the Justice Department in a RICO case…and even vanquished President Clinton…”
A book on Traficant, “Target: Traficant, The Untold Story,” states:
“Although there are probably dozens of members of Congress who could be indicted and convicted on major criminal offenses involving high-stakes bribery and influence peddling that is often quite open and never prosecuted, the Justice Department spent many years coming up with a handful of dubious charges against Rep. Jim Traficant.”
“Ask anyone who knows how it works in official Washington and they’ll privately admit that the real reason Traficant was indicted on criminal charges was simply the fact that “the powers that be” didn’t like Traficant: he was just too honest and too outspoken.”
For additional information see “The Mafia and the Congressman.”
Clip
Full interview
No comments:
Post a Comment