These politicians couldn't stay out of their own way. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for political figures who made decisions that destroyed their careers, reputations, personal lives, or all of the above.
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00:00 I did everything right and they indicted me.
00:03 - Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:04 And today we're counting down our picks
00:06 for political figures who made decisions
00:08 that destroyed their careers, reputations,
00:11 personal lives, or all of the above.
00:13 - According to the Denver Post,
00:15 a pregnant woman seated behind her asked her to stop.
00:19 - Taking flash pictures.
00:21 - Number 10, John Edwards.
00:24 This North Carolina Senator rose to national prominence
00:26 as John Kerry's running mate
00:28 for the 2004 US presidential election.
00:30 Following that loss, Edwards made a play
00:33 for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
00:35 Although his political aspirations diminished
00:37 when the National Enquirer reported
00:39 that he had fathered a child with a campaign worker.
00:41 - Edwards told a TV interviewer, "Yes and no.
00:44 "Yes, he'd had an affair with Hunter.
00:46 "No, he wasn't the father of her child."
00:48 - While Edwards admitted to having an affair
00:50 with Rielle Hunter, he initially denied
00:52 being the father of her daughter
00:53 before eventually coming clean about that too.
00:56 - Now John Edwards is changing his story,
00:58 admitting that while he ran
01:00 for president of the United States,
01:02 he had in fact fathered a child with his mistress.
01:05 - In 2011, a year after separating
01:07 from his now deceased wife, Elizabeth,
01:09 news broke that Edwards spent over $1 million
01:12 in campaign funds covering up the affair.
01:15 Indicted, Edwards dodged the six felony charges against him,
01:18 but his political career was over,
01:20 returning to law in disgrace.
01:22 - I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong.
01:27 - Number nine, Chris Lee.
01:28 There are a lot of bizarre offers on Craigslist,
01:31 but it's not every day that one receives
01:34 flirtatious solicitations from a topless politician.
01:37 Republican Chris Lee joined
01:38 the US House of Representatives in 2009.
01:41 Two years later, Lee responded to a women for men ad
01:44 on Craigslist inquiring, quote,
01:46 "Will someone prove to me
01:47 "that not all CL men look like toads?"
01:49 Claiming to be a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist,
01:52 Lee emailed the woman a shirtless photo of himself flexing.
01:55 - His fall from grace began with a stunning report
01:58 on the gossip website, gawker.com.
02:01 - Doing some online sleuthing,
02:03 the woman found that Lee wasn't being entirely honest.
02:06 He was 46, married with a son, and a member of the house.
02:09 - She stopped emailing Chris Lee
02:12 after he asked her to send a racy photo of herself.
02:15 - Almost immediately after the woman passed the photo
02:18 and story onto the gossip site, Gawker,
02:20 Lee resigned from his position.
02:22 Lee's office originally denied the allegations,
02:24 suggesting his email had been hacked.
02:27 But by yesterday afternoon,
02:29 his resignation was being read on the House floor.
02:31 - Number eight, Mark Foley.
02:33 This Republican served as a House member for over a decade
02:36 until his image imploded in September 2006.
02:39 It was reported that Foley sent lewd emails
02:42 and instant messages to underage congressional pages.
02:45 - But according to several former congressional pages,
02:47 the congressman himself used the internet
02:49 to engage in sexually explicit exchanges.
02:52 Some accusations were as recent as 2005,
02:55 while others went back to 1995.
02:58 Realizing he'd be expelled anyway,
03:00 Foley tendered his resignation.
03:02 After two years, Florida officials chose not to charge Foley,
03:05 citing the statute of limitations and insufficient evidence.
03:09 The FBI also decided against seeking charges,
03:12 but Foley reflected on the experience saying, quote,
03:14 "My life was over."
03:16 - In a statement, he said he was deeply sorry
03:18 and apologized for letting down his family
03:20 and the people of Florida.
03:22 Foley has since claimed that he was abused during his youth
03:24 and has come out as gay.
03:26 He's tried salvaging his career as a radio host,
03:28 but the allegations remain impossible to overlook.
03:32 - He was at the rally with his 26-year-old boyfriend.
03:35 - Number seven, Larry Craig.
03:37 Lawrence Craig held multiple offices for over 30 years
03:40 until he flushed it all down the toilet in 2007.
03:43 Actually, had Craig merely used the toilet
03:46 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport,
03:48 he wouldn't be on this list.
03:49 Instead, he engaged in disorderly conduct,
03:52 unaware that one of his fellow bathroom patrons
03:54 was an undercover cop.
03:55 - Craig was talking about his arrest
03:57 at a Minneapolis airport bathroom in 2007
04:01 on suspicion of lewd conduct.
04:03 - Arrested, Craig entered a guilty plea
04:05 and paid a $575 fine.
04:08 While Craig denies being gay
04:10 and has stood against LGBTQIA+ rights,
04:13 multiple men came forward claiming
04:15 that the Idaho senator had engaged in sexual activity
04:18 and attempts with them.
04:19 - I am not gay.
04:21 I never have been gay.
04:23 - Craig planned to resign,
04:24 although he decided to stay on until 2009
04:27 when his term ended.
04:28 Years later, this incident continues
04:30 to define Craig's legacy.
04:32 - This is a song that says regrets.
04:34 - Number six, James Traffickant.
04:38 As Mahoning County Sheriff,
04:40 Traffickant was accused of accepting bribes
04:42 and racketeering in 1983.
04:44 Representing himself, Traffickant beat those charges,
04:47 going on to join the House.
04:48 - And any man who represents himself is a fool.
04:51 But if the fool is speaking the truth,
04:54 the truth is still the most powerful thing in America.
04:57 - He became infamous for sporting cowboy boots,
04:59 wearing a toupee that fooled nobody,
05:01 and concluding rants by saying, "Beam me up."
05:04 In 2001, Traffickant was met with more bribery
05:07 and racketeering accusations in addition to tax evasion
05:09 and making staffers work on his property.
05:12 Traffickant again represented himself,
05:14 but this time he was convicted of 10 felony counts
05:17 and expelled from Congress.
05:18 - Congress voted 420 to one
05:20 to expel him after 17 and a half years.
05:23 - From prison, Traffickant unsuccessfully tried running
05:26 as an independent for a House seat
05:28 and received support from the KKK's David Duke.
05:31 He was released after seven years,
05:33 but Traffickant died five years later in a tractor accident.
05:36 - Former US Congressman James Traffickant has passed away
05:40 following an accident this week at his family's farm.
05:42 - Number five, Wilbur Mills.
05:44 It's hard to discuss this Democrat
05:46 without mentioning Annabel Batistella,
05:48 AKA Fanny Fox.
05:50 Mills had been a member of the House for 34 years
05:52 when he met Fox at the Silver Slipper Club
05:54 where she performed.
05:55 The two entered a relationship despite both being married.
05:59 Fox claimed that Mills was willing to leave his wife
06:01 and that she terminated a pregnancy to avoid a scandal.
06:04 - That weekend, Mills was quoted as saying,
06:06 "This won't ruin me, nothing can ruin me."
06:09 - Controversy nonetheless arose
06:11 when the couple was pulled over following a fight.
06:13 Fox tried fleeing into the tidal basin,
06:15 being promptly apprehended.
06:17 Mills still managed to secure his House seat,
06:20 but after appearing inebriated at Fox's burlesque show,
06:23 he resigned as the House Ways and Means Committee's chairman.
06:25 Mills subsequently pursued treatment,
06:27 ultimately leaving politics and his Foxy fling behind.
06:31 - Mills won the election,
06:32 but he still had to answer for his unusual activity.
06:35 - Number four, Kwame Kilpatrick.
06:37 Some politicians never seem to learn their lesson.
06:40 Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick was Detroit's mayor
06:42 when he was met with eight felony charges,
06:45 including perjury and obstruction of justice.
06:47 - But his support quickly eroded in the community
06:49 and on city council.
06:51 The Wayne County prosecutor slapped him
06:53 with eight felony charges.
06:55 - Kilpatrick would violate his bail,
06:57 spending a night in the pokey.
06:58 Accepting a plea agreement, Kilpatrick resigned,
07:01 spent four months in jail,
07:03 and was ordered to pay $1 million.
07:05 Kilpatrick's legal problems didn't end there.
07:07 Violating his probation,
07:09 Kilpatrick was sentenced to 18 months to five years.
07:12 - By failing to report assets and turn over tax refunds,
07:15 the former mayor is sentenced up to five years.
07:17 - The former mayor was indicted again for extortion,
07:20 racketeering, mail fraud, and more,
07:22 being sentenced to 28 years in 2013.
07:25 Kilpatrick had served almost seven years
07:27 when President Trump commuted his sentence.
07:30 Released in 2021,
07:32 Kilpatrick now works as a motivational speaker.
07:34 - Have you met President Trump since you've been out?
07:36 - I have not.
07:37 I'm looking forward to meeting him one day though.
07:38 - What are you gonna say to him?
07:40 - Thank you.
07:40 - Number three, Jack Abramoff.
07:42 In 2006, lobbyist Jack Abramoff found himself
07:46 at the center of more than one scandal involving casinos.
07:49 On January 3rd, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy,
07:52 fraud, and tax evasion
07:53 in a case regarding Native American casinos.
07:56 Abramoff and colleague Michael Scanlon
07:57 overcharged the tribes roughly $85 million,
08:01 splitting the money.
08:02 - In the end, he was brought up on federal charges
08:05 of tax evasion and ripping off Indian tribes.
08:08 - On January 4th, Abramoff entered another guilty plea,
08:11 this time pertaining to wire fraud and conspiracy
08:14 in the Sun Cruise Casinos case,
08:16 which involved the murder of Gus Boulis.
08:18 Abramoff served about three and a half years
08:20 of his six-year sentence, being released in December 2010.
08:24 - Turns out Jack Abramoff was broke,
08:27 partly because he's paying off nearly $24 million
08:30 in restitution to the Indian tribes.
08:33 - That same month, Abramoff was portrayed by Kevin Spacey
08:36 in the film "Casino Jack."
08:38 A decade later, he pled guilty to conspiracy
08:40 in a cryptocurrency fraud case,
08:42 facing even more prison time.
08:44 - Obviously, they're gonna need to learn
08:46 about what digital currencies are,
08:47 and the fact is that around the world, it's exploding.
08:50 - Number two, Anthony Weiner.
08:52 This former House member is every political satirist's dream
08:56 and not just because of his last name.
08:58 Everyone thought they'd heard the last from Anthony Weiner
09:00 in 2011 following his sexting scandal.
09:03 - Try to make amends to my constituents
09:05 and of course to my family, of course.
09:06 - He resigned that June,
09:08 but his fall from grace revealed a rock bottom
09:10 below rock bottom.
09:11 Trying to make a political comeback in 2013,
09:14 Weiner found himself engaged in another sexting scandal,
09:17 losing the mayoral primary with less than 5% of the vote.
09:21 - He was caught again in 2013
09:23 during a New York City mayoral bid.
09:25 - There was yet another rock bottom below that.
09:28 More sexting claims arose in 2016,
09:31 one involving an underage girl.
09:33 Pleading guilty, Weiner was sentenced to 21 months.
09:36 Although released in 2019,
09:39 Weiner is now a registered sex offender.
09:41 - He cried when Judge Denise Coates
09:43 sentenced him to 21 months,
09:44 seeking into his chair seemingly inconsolable.
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10:01 - Number one, Donald Trump.
10:05 What was left of Richard Nixon's reputation
10:07 was washed away with Watergate,
10:09 although he had enough dignity to admit defeat.
10:12 - If you count the legal votes, I easily win.
10:16 If you count the illegal votes,
10:19 they can try to steal the election from us.
10:23 - Since serving his only term as president,
10:25 several scandals have come back to bite Trump,
10:28 from Stormy Daniels to his association
10:30 with the January 6th Capitol attack.
10:32 - We're gonna walk down to the Capitol.
10:35 (crowd cheering)
10:37 And we're gonna cheer on our brave senators
10:41 and congressmen and women.
10:43 - Trump has also become engulfed in new scandals,
10:46 with authorities finding classified documents
10:48 on his property.
10:49 Then there's the Georgia election interference case,
10:52 which not only involves Trump,
10:53 but 18 co-defendants, including Rudy Giuliani.
10:57 As always, Trump remains confident
10:59 that he will come out on top of this.
11:01 - This is what accountability looks like.
11:03 - Which politician do you think best epitomizes
11:05 the face palm?
11:06 Cast your vote in the comments.
11:08 - And then we're going to Washington, D.C.
11:10 to take back the White House.
11:12 (man screaming)
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