Political Scandals

1. Mark Foley When it rains, it pours, and when the sky opened up on Mark Foley, the leveys failed and the dams broke. It started when a congressional page came forward in the press, alleging that Mark Foley had requested a photo. Then another page came forward and revealed sexually explicit text messages and instant messages. Then more pages came forward, charging Foley with a streak of sexually inappropriate conduct running at least 10 years back. After Foley was confronted with the material ABC News had gathered, he tenedered his resignation and got the hell out of Washington. Here is an excerpt from ... Read Full Story

2. Gary Condit No one knows who murdered D.C. intern Chandra Levy in May of 2001, but a whole lot of people think they know. Gary Condit comes off as a slime ball in this case, and for good reason. He was a 53-year-old politican seen to be taking advantage of a 23-year-old intern. And he denied the whole affair until Chandra Levy's aunt told police all about it. After that the public was out for blood. Ultimately, the case would go unresolved and Condit would carry out his term in congress, but many still suspect Condit played a role in Levy's mysterious murder. ... Read Full Story

3. Larry Craig (Getty Images) In June of 2007, Larry Craig made comedians jobs easier for a few weeks when he was arrested in a men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Craig was allegedly trying to pull some sort of sexual shenanigans with the guy in the stall next to him. That guy turned out to be an undercover police officer. According to the arresting officer's report, Craig tapped his right foot and rubbed it up against the officer's left foot as a signal that he wanted to engage in some sort of sexual act. Craig then "proceeded to swipe his left ... Read Full Story

4. Jeff Gannon When new blood joins the Washington Press Corps, reporters tend to notice. So it was when some no-name reporter started habitually lobbing softballs to President Bush. It wasn't long before a few actual journalists dug up the dirt on Jeff Gannon. Gannon, (real name James Dale Guckert) had been issued a series of speedily-approved single-day press passes that aroused suspicion. It turns out he hadn't been working for any news organization, so virtual news agency Talon News was created featuring his work. It turns out Gannon was formerly a gay prostitute. It turns out Gannon hadn't ever worked professionally as a ... Read Full Story

5. The Washingtonienne (Publicity Still) Call this one a sex scandal for a new era. In 2004, Jessica Louise Cutler was a staff assistant for Senator Michael DeWine. While she was working for the senator, Cutler kept an anonymous blog called the Washingtonienne in which she detailed her scandalous sex life. Not only did she write candidly about sleeping with high-powered government officials (identified only by initials), she also admitted to accepting money and gifts for the time she spent with them. Cutler's identity was eventually published on the popular Washington blog Wonkette . Cutler was fired. The press and public expressed outrage. Cutler ... Read Full Story

6. Jim McGreevey People will remember Jim McGreevey for being publicly outed as gay, but not many realize this had nothing to do with the calls for his resignation. The problem was that as Governor of New Jersey he had appointed his wholly unqualified boyfriend, Golan Cipel, to the position of Homeland Security Advisor. It didn't help McGreevey's case that as an Israeli, Cipel could not gain clearance to the intelligence necessary to perform his duties as Homeland Security Advisor. It also doesn't help that news agencies were reporting on the couple's frequent sailing trips. Some guys will do anything to get laid. Number ... Read Full Story

7. Eliot Spitzer (Getty Images & NY Post) We can learn at least one thing from Eliot Spitzer 's scandalous behavior: Mr. Spitzer does not have cheap taste. In March of 2008, the New York Times reported that Eliot Spitzer had patronized a prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP and paid $1,000 an hour to spend some time with Ashley Alexandra Dupre . Spitzer lost his job and Dupre became a minor celebrity. Number 6 Number 8 Read Full Story

8. D.C. Madam (Getty Images) When the United States Postal Service busted Deborah Jeane Palfrey for money laundering and prostitution, she wasn't the only one sweating. Palfrey, who would come to be known as the D.C. Madam, had cleared a reported $2 million over 13 years by selling sex to Washington's rich and powerful. The charges led to a few resignations from middling government officials, but no one of major note. In early 2007, one of her former escorts, Brandy Britton committed suicide by hanging. Palfreys reaction? "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of." The words would prove to ... Read Full Story

9. Jack Ryan In 2004, while running for senate against Barack Obama, Jack and Jeri Ryan's divorce papers were made public. It took one snippet of information from those papers to ruin Ryan's chances of winning a senate seat. That snippet? Jack Ryan had allegedly taken his superhot wife Jeri Ryan (aka Seven of Nine) to public sex clubs in several cities because he wanted to have sex with her in public. Number 8 Number 9 Read Full Story

10. Bob Allen In July of 2007, Bob Allen's political career was ruined when he got so scared of a black guy in a public bathroom that he offered to give him oral sex. At least that's his story. The police tell the story a little differently. According to them, Allen, then a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, offered an undercover police officer $20 if he could perform oral sex on him. The whole thing was a sting. Allen was arrested. He resigned his position in the House and he was ordered by the court to complete a class in HIV ... Read Full Story