Oddball: Former Congressman James Traficant

This week’s featured “oddball” is former Ohio Congressman James Traficant, who is attempting to mount a political comeback this year after spending much of the last decade in Federal prison.

Traficant was described as “flamboyant” and “eccentric” during his time in Congress, wearing an unusual looking hairpiece and making offbeat speeches to the C-SPAN cameras from the floor of the House.

He served as Sheriff of Mahoning County from 1981 to 1985 and in 1983, was charged with racketeering for accepting bribes. Traficant, who represented himself in the criminal trial, argued that he accepted the bribes only as part of an “undercover investigation” into corruption. Amazingly, he was acquitted of the charges, becoming the only person ever to win a RICO case while representing himself.

The publicity from the RICO case helped propel him into a successful run for Congress in 1984, where he represented Ohio’s 17th District for nearly two decades.

In 2002, Traficant was indicted on federal corruption charges. He opted to defend himself, insisting that the trial was part of a political vendetta against him. A jury found him guilty on 10 counts, including bribery, filing false income tax returns, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to defraud the United States and racketeering.

The House Ethics Committee recommended that Traficant be expelled from Congress and on July 24, 2002 the House voted 420-1 to expel him. The infamous Gary Condit was the lone “no” vote.

Not willing to take defeat sitting down, Traficant launched a campaign to recapture his seat from Federal prison. In November of 2002, running as an independent candidate, Traficant polled 28,045 votes (15%) and finished third in a contest that saw Democrat Tim Ryan first elected to the House.

During his subsequent years in prison, Traficant would spend an extended period locked in solitary confinement for causing a disturbance. He even received support from (of all people) David Duke. It seems that Duke urged some of his followers to donate funds into Traficant’s canteen fund.

Traficant publicly claimed to know facts about Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pan Am Flight 103, Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and that he would release them at some point.

In recent years he’s spoken out against Jewish control of the media and Israel’s influence on American foreign policy. Saying in an interview with Fox News: “They control much of the media, they control much of the commerce of the country, and they control powerfully both bodies of the Congress. They own the Congress.”

Once again off and running as an independent, Traficant filed petitions earlier this month to secure his spot on the November ballot. In trying to reclaim his old seat, Traficant will face incumbent Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican nominee Jim Graham in the heavily Democratic district.

According to a 2008 study by the Congressional Research Service, “indictment for or conviction of a felony” and “congressional censure or expulsion” don’t disqualify someone from holding future political office.  I guess that’s good news for Mr. Traficant.