The wayback machine

Abscam

For a brief moment in our nations history starting with Watergate and ending with Abscam, the American people learned what scoundrels their elected officials were. One can only hope that future generations will recognize this.  article

Either we don't remember. Or we don't care.

Abscam memory jog:

On February 3, 1980, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers revealed details about a secret two-year FBI sting operation code-named "Abscam." By 1984, four members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. Senator had been convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges. It was the biggest scandal to hit Washington since Watergate though it is largely forgotten today. Why is that? Because neither party has an incentive to bring it up.

...[The sting was arranged] to set up meetings between various public officials and a mysterious Arab sheik named Abdul who wanted:

To purchase asylum in the U.S.
To involve them in an investment scheme
To get help in getting his money out of his country
FBI agents posing as associates of Abdul approached various public officials with Abdul's goals and how they could help to achieve them. The FBI secretly videotaped each meeting and had no trouble finding politicians willing to abuse their office in exchange for bribes. Despite the convictions, the FBI itself became a target as politicians who were not caught soon realized how easily they could have been.

Rep. Richard Kelly, (R-Florida) caught on tape accepting a $25,000 bribe and asking if the bulges in his pockets showed - conviction overturned (entrapment).
Sen. Angelo Errichetti (D-New Jersey) served six years in prison and fined $40,000.
Rep. Frank Thompson (D-New Jersey), used $24,000 of campaign funds for his legal fees, served two years and went on to work as a consultant in Washington.
Sen. Harrison Williams (D-New Jersey) resigned his Senate seat rather than face being expelled after being found guilty of bribery charges in May 1981 - he served two years in prison '84 - '86.
Rep. John Jenrette (D-South Carolina).
Rep. Raymond Lederer (D-Pennsylvania) caught on video receiving $50,000 in a paper bag - convicted of bribery and conspiracy - served one year in jail and paid a $10,000 fine.
Rep. Michael Myers (D-Pennsylvania) convicted of bribery and conspiracy - caught on tape saying "Money talks, bullshit walks." - expelled from office, served three years and paid a $20,000 in fine.
Rep. John M. Murphy (D-New York) convicted (no fine/time served information).

Five other government officials were convicted, including the mayor of Camden, Angelo Errichetti....The FBI and the Department of Justice were also accused of having political motivations in the politicians they targeted.   source

You know that scum floats to the top.

I wonder if there's anything to that charge of political targeting - I mean, seeing as they were all democrats but one, and the one who wasn't was the only one whose conviction was overturned on the charge of entrapment - weren't they all entrapped?

That quick little bit of Googling led to the topic of Presidential pardons.

Number of Pardons by President
Bill Clinton, about 400
George Bush, 77
Ronald Reagan, about 400
Jimmy Carter, 534
  source

Notable Clemencies from Presidents Washington to George H.W. Bush
NOTE: Although general statistics on Presidential clemency are available, there are - as yet - no comprehensive publicly-accessible historical records of Presidential grants of clemency, with full details of names, offences, when clemency was granted, etc.. See Prof. P.S. Ruckman, Jr., Keys to Clemency Reform: Knowledge, Transparency (JURIST; March 7, 2001).

Whiskey Rebellion rebels (Washington, 1795; amnesty)
Confederate rebels (Johnson, 1868; amnesty)
Samuel Mudd (Johnson, 1869)
Eugene Debs (Harding, 1921)
Marcus Garvey (Coolidge, 1927; clemency for mail fraud conviction in 1923)
Oscar Collazo (Truman, 1952; commuted death sentence to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate President Truman in 1950)
Jimmy Hoffa (Nixon, 1971; commutation)
Richard Nixon (Ford, 1974)
Tokyo Rose (Ford, 1977)
Clyde Wilson (Ford, 1977)
Vietnam draft resisters (Carter, 1977; amnesty)
G. Gordon Liddy (Carter, 1977; commuted sentence for Watergate break-in in 1972)
Irving Flores Rodriguez, Lolita Lebron, and Rafael Cancel-Miranda (Carter, 1979; clemency for machine-gunning the U.S. House of Representatives and wounding five Congressmen in 1954)
Oscar Collazo (Carter, 1979; clemency for attempting to assassinate President Truman in 1950)
Patricia Hearst (Carter, 1979; commuted sentence for armed robbery)
Peter Yarrow (Carter, 1981; clemency for a sexual offence in 1969)
W. Mark Felt and Edward Miller (Reagan, 1981; clemency for authorizing FBI agents to break into Vietnam protestors' offices without warrants)
Gilbert Dozier (Reagan, 1984; commuted sentence for extortion and racketeering)
Junior Johnson (Reagan, 1985; pardoned for liquor offences committed in the 1950s)
Albert Alkek (Reagan, 1987; clemency for withholding information from federal officials regarding an oil price-fixing scheme)
George Steinbrenner (Reagan, 1989)
Armand Hammer (Bush, 1989; pardoned for making illegal contributions to President Nixon's re-election campaign in 1972)
Caspar Weinberger (Bush, 1992) full text of President Bush's pardon proclamation
Edwin L. Cox, Jr. (Bush, 1993; pardoned for bank fraud)
Aslam P. Adam (Bush, 1993; clemency for heroin trafficking)
Joseph Occhipinti (Bush, 1993; commuted sentence for violating the civil rights of accused criminals)
  source

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.