Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt
Politicians” for 2007

Washington, DC –Judicial Watch, the public interest
group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released
its 2007 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.”  The
list, in alphabetical order, includes:

1.  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
(D-NY):  In addition to her long and sordid ethics record, Senator Hillary
Clinton took a lot of heat in 2007 – and rightly so – for blocking the release
her official White House records.  Many suspect these records contain a
treasure trove of information related to her role in a number of serious
Clinton-era scandals.  Moreover, in March 2007, Judicial Watch filed an
ethics complaint against Senator Clinton for filing false financial disclosure
forms with the U.S. Senate (again).  And Hillary’s top campaign
contributor, Norman Hsu, was exposed as a felon and a fugitive from justice in
2007.  Hsu pleaded guilt to one count of grand theft for defrauding
investors as part of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

2.  Rep. John Conyers (D-MI):  Conyers
reportedly repeatedly violated the law and House ethics rules, forcing his
staff to serve as his personal servants, babysitters, valets and campaign
workers while on the government payroll.  While the House Ethics Committee
investigated these allegations in 2006, and substantiated a number of the
accusations against Conyers, the committee blamed the staff and required
additional administrative record-keeping and employee training.  Judicial
Watch obtained documentation in 2007 from a former Conyers staffer that sheds
new light on the activities and conduct on the part of the Michigan
congressman, which appear to be at a minimum inappropriate and likely
unlawful.  Judicial Watch called on the Attorney General in 2007 to
investigate the matter.

3.  Senator Larry Craig (R-ID):  In one of
the most shocking scandals of 2007, Senator Craig was caught by police
attempting to solicit sex in a Minneapolis International Airport men’s bathroom
during the summer.  Senator Craig reportedly “sent signals” to a police
officer in an adjacent stall that he wanted to engage in sexual activity. 
When the police officer showed Craig his police identification under the
bathroom stall divider and pointed toward the exit, the senator reportedly
exclaimed ‘No!’”  When asked to produce identification, Craig presented police
his U.S. Senate business card and said, “What do you think of that?”  The
power play didn’t work.  Craig was arrested, charged and entered a guilty
plea.  Despite enormous pressure from his Republican colleagues to resign
from the Senate, Craig refused.

4.  Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA):  As a
member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on military
construction, Feinstein reviewed military construction government contracts,
some of which were ultimately awarded to URS Corporation and Perini, companies
then owned by Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum. While the Pentagon ultimately
awards military contracts, there is a reason for the review process. The
Senate’s subcommittee on Military Construction’s approval carries weight. Sen.
Feinstein, therefore, likely had influence over the decision making
process.  Senator Feinstein also attempted to undermine ethics reform in
2007, arguing in favor of a perk that allows members of Congress to book
multiple airline flights and then cancel them without financial penalty. 
Judicial Watch’s investigation into this matter is ongoing. 

5.  Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
(R-NY):  Giuliani came under fire in late 2007 after it was discovered the
former New York mayor’s office “billed obscure city agencies for tens of
thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was
beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the
Hamptons…”  ABC News also reported that Giuliani provided Nathan with a
police vehicle and a city driver at taxpayer expense.  All of this news
came on the heels of the federal indictment on corruption charges of Giuliani’s
former Police Chief and business partner Bernard Kerik, who pleaded guilty in
2006 to accepting a $165,000 bribe in the form of renovations to his Bronx apartment
from a construction company attempting to land city contracts.

6.  Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR): 
Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which
prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record.  According to The
Associated Press:  “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics
complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his
management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize
his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the
governor’s office.”  And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these
ethics allegations?  Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee
sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process
down.

7.  I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby:  Libby,
former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 30 months
in prison and fined $250,000 for lying and obstructing the Valerie Plame CIA
leak investigation.  Libby was found guilty of four felonies — two counts
of perjury, one count of making false statements to the FBI and one count of
obstructing justice – all serious crimes.  Unfortunately, Libby was
largely let off the hook.  In an appalling lack of judgment, President
Bush issued “Executive Clemency” to Libby and commuted the sentence.

8.  Senator Barack Obama (D-IL):  A
“Dishonorable Mention” last year, Senator Obama moves onto the “ten most
wanted” list in 2007.  In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved
in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin
“Tony” Rezko.  In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious
business and political connections  It was reported that just two months
after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in
speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign
contributors.  One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited
from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000
of the company’s shares.  Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign
business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.

9.  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):  House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who promised a new era of ethics enforcement in the House
of Representatives, snuck a $25 million gift to her husband, Paul Pelosi, in a
$15 billion Water Resources Development Act recently passed by Congress. 
The pet project involved renovating ports in Speaker Pelosi’s home base of San
Francisco.  Pelosi just happens to own apartment buildings near the areas
targeted for improvement, and will almost certainly experience a significant
boost in property value as a result of Pelosi’s earmark.  Earlier in the
year, Pelosi found herself in hot water for demanding access to a luxury Air
Force jet to ferry the Speaker and her entourage back and forth from San
Francisco non-stop, in unprecedented request which was wisely rejected by the
Pentagon.  And under Pelosi’s leadership, the House ethics process remains
essentially shut down – which protects members in both parties from
accountability.

10.  Senator Harry Reid (D-NV):  Over the
last few years, Reid has been embroiled in a series of scandals that cast
serious doubt on his credibility as a self-professed champion of government
ethics, and 2007 was no different.  According to The Los Angeles Times,
over the last four years, Reid has used his influence in Washington to help a
developer, Havey Whittemore, clear obstacles for a profitable real estate
deal.  As the project advanced, the Times reported, “Reid received tens of
thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Whittemore.” 
Whittemore also hired one of Reid’s sons (Leif) as his personal lawyer and then
promptly handed the junior Reid the responsibility of negotiating the real
estate deal with federal officials.  Leif Reid even called his father’s
office to talk about how to obtain the proper EPA permits, a clear conflict of
interest.

Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization.  Judicial Watch neither supports nor opposes candidates for
public office.  For more information, visit www.judicialwatch.org.