James Traficant
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James A. Traficant Jr. (born May 8, 1941) was a Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio, but was expelled after being convicted of corruption. During his tenure in the House, he was notorious for speeches that fell well outside the more staid norms of most political speaking.
Born in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, he graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and the University of Pittsburgh 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 Mahoning County Drug Program from 1971-1981 and sheriff of Mahoning County from 1981-1985. As sheriff, he was tried on charges of accepting bribes, but was acquitted after defending himself and arguing that he was conducting his own undercover investigation.
Afterward, he was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-ninth and to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1985-July 24, 2002) and was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He would frequently end speeches to the House with the phrase, "Beam me up, Mr. Speaker." He was a constant thorn in the side of the Democratic caucus, with his eccentric behavior and his tendency to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party.
Mr. Traficant was not afraid to be perceived as eccentric; this fearlessness allowed him to champion the highly unpopular cause of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian autoworker from Seven Hills, Ohio, who had been convicted in Israel and sentenced to death for having been the brutal and genocidal concentration camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." Mr. Traficant was virtually alone in insisting that Mr. Demjanjuk had been denied a fair trial; the high court of Israel eventually agreed and overturned the conviction.
In 2002, Jim Traficant was indicted and tried on charges of corruption for taking campaign funds for personal use. Again, he attempted to represent himself pro se, but this time he was convicted of the charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. Once convicted, he was expelled from the House of Representatives. The lone vote against Mr. Traficant's expulsion was cast by Rep. Gary Condit.
After his expulsion, Jim Traficant ran as an independent candidate for another term in the House of Representatives from Ohio, 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.
In 2003, a group of individuals attempted to draft Traficant to run for President of the United States as a Democrat. After they failed to meet their funding goal, the attempt ended in September 2003.
In March, 2004, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that Traficant had been moved to a federal prison near Ray Brook, New York. As of April, 2005, the Federal Bureau of Prisons had Traficant listed at the Federal Medical Center near Rochester, Minnesota.
In addition to his volcanic tirades on the House floor, he was also known for his toupee [1] (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/traficant1.html), his loathing of NAFTA and the Internal Revenue Service, his frankness, and his willingness to vote independently of his party.
See also
- Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 17th District
- List of United States Representatives from Ohio
External links
- Traficant Speeches and Explusion Hearing Transcript (http://www.yourcongress.com/section.asp?section=Daily_Traficant)
- "Look at what Traficant swept under the rug" (http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/08/01/congress.traficant/) - CNN, August 1, 2002
- Campaign for a presidential pardon (http://www.traficant.com/)
- Archive of many of Traficant's congressional speeches (http://www.thememoryhole.org/traficant/)