James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 - September 27, 2014) is a Democrat, and then an independent, politician and member of the United States House of Representatives of Ohio. He represents the 17th Congress District, based in his hometown of Youngstown and belongs to the three districts of the Northeastern Mahoning Valley of Ohio. He was expelled from the House after being found guilty of taking bribes, filing for false tax returns, extortion and forcing his aide to undertake work on his farm in Ohio and a houseboat in Washington, DC He was sentenced to prison and released on September 2, 2009, after serving seven year.
Traficant died on September 27, 2014, as a result of an injury he suffered in an accident that occurred a few days earlier when the tractor overturned while he was driving into a barn.
Video James Traficant
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Born into a working-class Catholic family in Youngstown, Ohio, Traficant is the son of Agnes ( nÃÆ' Â © e Farkas) and James Anthony Traficant Sr. He is mostly of Italian and Slovak descent. Traficant graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and University of Pittsburgh in 1963. He played as a quarterback for Pitt's soccer team, and his colleagues included Mike Ditka. Traficant was composed in the twentieth round of the NFL (overall 276) by Pittsburgh Steelers in 1963, and tried for the Steelers and Oakland Raiders of the American Football League, but did not play professionally. He later obtained a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1973) and the other from Youngstown State University (1976).
Early in his career, Traficant worked as consumer finance director for the Youngstown Community Action Program. He teaches drug and alcohol dependency courses and recovery at Youngstown State University and Kent State University, as well as teaches about drug and alcohol abuse for colleges and government agencies outside Ohio. In addition, Traficant teaches at the Ohio Peasant Officers Training Academy. He was executive director of Mahoning County Drug Program from 1971 to 1981, and Sheriff in Mahoning County from 1981 to 1985. While serving as a sheriff, Traficant made national headlines by refusing to execute foreclosure orders on unemployed homeowners, many of whom had abandoned work by recent steel plant closures. This deplored it to the locals, who dealt with a declining economy following the closure and relocation of steelmaking and steel-related businesses.
In 1983, he was charged with extortion for taking bribes. Traficant, who represents himself in a criminal trial, reasoned that he accepted bribes only as part of a secret camouflage investigation he alleged himself against corruption. Traficant was acquitted of the charge, becoming the only person ever to win the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case while representing him.
The publicity of the RICO experiment increases local Traficant visibility. He was elected a Democrat for Congress from District 17 Ohio, defeating Lyle Williams, a three-term Republican petahana. He was re-elected eight times without serious opposition.
Maps James Traficant
AS. House of Representatives
In the House, Traficant is known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. She often dressed badly, with a narrow tie (then missed out), a wide-collar sports coat and an occasional denim suit. He also wore an unkempt pompadour, who jokingly told him that he was cut off with a hard knock (it was revealed, after his conviction, that he was wearing a toupà ©  © e). The closing line of his trademark when speaking at home is "Give me..." and "I reply to the facts..." The website displays a photo of him swinging two or four with the words "Bangin" in DC "
While in Congress, Traficant is a supporter of immigration reductions, and a strong opponent of illegal immigration. In the controversy surrounding the defeat of Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, Traficant is the only Democratic Congressman who advocates a new election, due to Dornan's allegations of voting in the race by illegal immigrants (the charge goes unproven, and new elections are not held).
The main legislative achievement of Traficant in the DPR is the adoption of several proposals to limit enforcement activities by the Internal Revenue Service against delinquent tax payers.
After the Republican Party overran the House in 1995, Traficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. Regarding the issue of abortion, Traficant voted in the position of the National Committee on National Rights for Life 95% of the time at the 105th Congress, and 100% of the time at the 106th and 107th Congress. However, he voted against all four impeachment articles against Bill Clinton. After he elected Republican Dennis Hastert to become House Speaker in 2001, the Democrats removed him from his seniority and refused to give him committee duties. Since the Republican Party did not assign it to any committee, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives for more than a century - beyond the top leadership - had none of the committee's duties.
Defense John Demjanjuk
Traficant championed the unpopular cause of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian-born autoworker from Seven Hills, who has been convicted in Israel and sentenced to hanging for being the guardian of the brutal concentration camp Ivan the Terrible. For nearly a decade, Traficant (along with Pat Buchanan) insisted that Demjanjuk had been denied a fair trial, and was the victim of an identity error; in 1993 the Israeli Supreme Court overruled its conviction, on the basis of doubt. Demjanjuk was later deported to Germany on May 11, 2009, after the United States Supreme Court refused to cancel his deportation order. Demjanjuk was tried and convicted by a German criminal tribunal as an assassination accessory, but died before the German Court of Appeals could hear his case, thus canceling his conviction.
Defense Arthur Rudolph
Following Pat Buchanan's recommendation to reconsider the denaturization of former Nazi and NASA scientist Arthur Rudolph, who was taken to the United States under Operation Paperclip, Traficant spoke to Friends of Arthur Rudolph, an organization based in Huntsville, Alabama. He argues that denaturization has occurred because "strong Jewish lobby" influences Congress. He added that it was a civil rights violation of US citizens, and he suggested that Rudolph return to the United States. In addition, he "introduced the resolution in Congress [...] called for an investigation into OSI's handling of the Rudolph case." Meanwhile, in 1990, Traficant had planned to meet Rudolph at Niagara Falls, on the Canadian-American border; however, Rudolph was arrested by immigration officers in Toronto, and the encounter never happened.
Trial and expulsion
In 2002, Traficant was charged on federal corruption charges for taking campaign funds for personal use. Once again, he chose to represent himself, insisting that the trial was part of his revenge against him since the 1983 case. After two months of federal trials, on 11 April 2002, he was convicted of 10 counts of crime including bribery, extortion and tax evasion. Regulation Per House, he lost his right to vote on legislation pending an investigation by the US Ethics Committee.
Finally, the House Ethics Committee recommends that Traficant be removed from Congress. On July 24, the House voted to oust him in 420-1 votes. The only vote against expulsion was Rep. Gary Condit, who at the time was in the midst of his own scandal and was defeated in his primary re-election. Traficant was the first deputy to be expelled since Michael Myers's expulsion in 1980 as a result of the Abscam scandal.
After his expulsion, Traficant ran as an independent candidate for another term in the House of Representatives while imprisoned in the United States Correctional Institution, Allenwood. He received 28,045 votes, or 15 percent, and became one of the few people in US history to run for federal prison. The election was won by one of his former aides, Tim Ryan.
Prison life and then
Incarceration
James A. Traficant Jr. has the Federal Bureau of Prisons ID # 31213-060. Traficant served his first seventeen months at a federal prison at the United States Penitentiary at Allenwood. Shortly after, he was put into solitary confinement for incitement to riot after he told a guard, "People can not hear you. Speak." During his seven years of detention, Traficant refused every visitor, saying that he did not want anyone to see him. She was released on September 2, 2009, at the age of 68, and underwent three years of probation.
While in jail, Traficant receives support from David Duke, who urges visitors to his personal website to donate to his personal funds. Duke posted a letter written by Traficant stating that he was targeted by the United States Department of Justice because, inter alia, defended John Demjanjuk. Traficant also claims, in the letter, that he knows the facts about "Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pan Am Flight 103, Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of John F. Kennedy", which he may reveal in the future. Author Michael Collins Piper, who initially helped pass on Traficant's letter, said that "There are things I have written about Traficant appearing in places I do not even know about - it's like (six) degrees of separation with the internet now," and denied that Traficant has a direct connection to Duke.
Release
Traficant was released from prison on September 2, 2009. On September 6, 2009, 1,200 supporters greeted him at home at a banquet with Elvis impersonators, and a Traficant-like contest. "Welcome to Jimbo House" printed on T-shirt. "I think it's time to tell the FBI and the IRS that this is our country and we're tired - tired of the pressure, tired of political targeting, bored with the powerful central government that crippled America," he said. He also said he was considering running in his old seat in Congress. Traficant signed a three-month limited contract to work as a part-time weekend speaker to be a radio host for WTAM news/talk stations in January 2010. His contract allowed him to quit if he chose to run.
On November 2, 2009, a column by Traficant in American Free Press resumed his defense against the defendant concentration camp John Demjanjuk. Michael Collins Piper an AFP writer - who wrote Target: Traficant, The Untold Story - previously defended Traficant against his accusers.
congressional campaign 2010
In September 2010, Traficant was certified to run for the same seat he held prior to his expulsion, saying that his platform would revoke the Sixteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Traficant lost the election of his former assistant, Tim Ryan, to whom he lost in early 2002, where Traficant ran as independent of his prison cell. Traficant received 30,556 votes, or 16%.
Post-prison life
After his release from prison, he appeared as a guest speaker at the Tea Party protest in Columbiana, Ohio, among other affiliated affiliated events.
Traficant started a grassroots campaign in July 2014, "Project Freedom USA", to, inter alia, to pressure Congress to get rid of the IRS and the Federal Reserve's "divorce".
Accidents and death
Traficant was injured in an accident on his farm on September 23, 2014. The tractor he steered into the barn was upside down and trapped it underneath. Traficant was taken to Salem Regional Medical Center in Salem, Ohio, and then flown to St. Joseph's Medical Center. Elizabeth in Youngstown. On the night of September 24, his wife described him as "sedate and not working well."
On September 26, through news reports and statements from lawyers and family spokeswoman Heidi Hanni, it was discovered that families were awaiting the appraisals of doctors; no word whether or not Traficant had suffered a heart attack, but he was still unconscious and being anesthetized for pain and other reasons. A number of old family friends, including Linda Kovachik, a former congressional assistant for Traficant, told The Vindicator that Traficant is believed to have suffered a heart attack, causing a tractor accident.
A text message was sent on Friday night Sept. 26 by Jim Condit Jr., Constitutional Party candidate for the 8th congress district in Ohio and a close friend who had traveled with Traficant to help promote Project Freedom USA. The text message stated that "the machines were disconnected at 2:00 (Friday), he was still breathing, thousands of people were praying." On September 27, 2014, Traficant died at a nursing home in Poland, Ohio, aged 73. On September 29, Traficant's body was buried in an undisclosed location after the family had a private funeral, and announced that there would be no public graveyard for him.
Subsequent medical investigations determined that Traficant had not suffered a heart attack or seizure before the accident, and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In addition, he did not suffer a devastating injury in the accident. The forensic pathologist who conducted the examination attributed Traficant's death to positional asphyxia, stating that he could not breathe due to the weight of the tractor, where he was trapped after the accident.
Publications
- Traficant, James (2011). Last Minuteman Amerika . New York: International Sports Calendar. ISBN: 978-1-889036-01-4.
- Target: Traficant, The Untold Story , Michael Collins Piper, American Free Press; (2005); ISBN: 978-0981808611
See also
- List of US Representatives from Ohio
- The United States Representative List is issued, censured, or reprimanded
- List of US federal politicians convicted of crimes
- List of federal political scandals in the United States
References
External links
- Works written by or about James Traficant on Wikisource
- Biography at Directory of Congressional Biographies of the United States
- Appearance in C-SPAN
- "See what Traficant brooms under the carpet" - CNN, August 1, 2002
- Traficant quarterbacking Pitt over Navy
- Official Website by Nicky Nelson & amp; Jim Condit Jr., Freedom USA Project Ã,
- James Traficant - A Tribute (Video) by Mike Wayne
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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