As part of the series “ Culture of Corruption ,” the Tribune has compiled a list of roughly 200 convicted, indicted or generally notorious public officials from Illinois’ long and infamous political history. We’re calling it “The Dishonor Roll.” On this page you can read about those who served in the federal government.
This list isn’t meant to be exhaustive, and the Tribune will be updating it as warranted. “The Dishonor Roll” draws heavily from the vast archives of the Tribune, including photography and pages from the newspaper on the days these public officials made headlines. Read more of “The Dishonor Roll” below: Statewide officials General Assembly Downstate and suburban officials Judges Cook County officials Chicago officials U.
S. Rep. Dan Crane speaks in 1983, near Danville.
(Paul Gero/Chicago Tribune) A downstate congressman from 1979 to 1985, U.S. Rep.
Dan Crane was censured by the House for having sex with a 17-year-old girl who worked in the House as a page. He lost a bid for reelection. In July 1983, U.
S. Rep. Dan Crane said he would not resign despite admitting to having sexual relations with a 17-year-old page.
(Chicago Tribune) U.S. Rep.
Edward E. Denison, of Marion, was charged during Prohibition after officials found a “leaking” suitcase. (Pacific and Atlantic photo) A downstate congressman from 1915 to 1931, U.
S. Rep. Edward E.
Denison, who supported the Volstead Act banning alcohol, was charged with possessing liquor during Prohibition while he was in Washington, D.C. Authorities found a “leaking” suitcase addressed in care of Denison.
A court later sustained Denison’s assertion that the document laying out the charges was legally insufficient. Denison, however, lost a bid for reelection in 1930. Former U.
S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse in Chicago after sentencing on April 27, 2016. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune Former U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, second from right, is led by Sidley Austin attorney John Gallo as they make their way through the media gathering at Chicago's Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on June 9, 2015.
Hastert was in court for his arraignment on charges he evaded bank regulations and lied to the FBI. Terrence A. James, Chicago Tribune Former U.
S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves Chicago's Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse on June 9, 2015, after pleading not guilty to charges he evaded bank regulations and lied to the FBI. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert speeds off Sept. 22, 1999, while driving a minicar in the third annual "Capitol Hill Challenge," for the Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs.
Candice C. Cusic, Chicago Tribune Jean Hastert sits with her husband, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and family friend Bob Williams inside the Cozy Corner Family Restaurant in Yorkville on Feb. 16, 1999.
Candice C. Cusic, Chicago Tribune Dennis Hastert appears at a Yorkville radio station in 1999. Don Casper / Chicago Tribune State Rep.
Dennis Hastert savors his Congressional victory at his campaign office in the Baker Hotel in St. Charles, Ill. on Nov.
5, 1986. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
, with his wife, Jean, at his side, speaks at a news conference Jan. 5, 1999, in Washington. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert, left, introduces the new House Majority Leader, Rep.
John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, after he defeated Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., right, on Feb.
2, 2006. Blunt had assumed the position on an interim basis after Rep. Tom DeLay stepped down following his indictment.
Chicago Tribune historical photo State Rep. Dennis Hastert, 39th District. Chicago Tribune Dennis Hastert after the wrestling team he coached won the state title in 1976.
John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune Jolene Burdge poses at her home on April 6, 2016, in Billings, Mont. She said her brother, Stephen Reinboldt, was sexually abused by former U.
S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert when Reinboldt was a student and Hastert was a wrestling coach and teacher at Yorkville High School. Burdge is expected to give a victim-impact statement at Hastert's sentencing.
Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune President George W. Bush, right, chats with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert during a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony at the U.S.
Capitol on July 26, 2001. Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune Former U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves after his guilty plea at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Oct.
28, 2015. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Vice President Al Gore, left, and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert applaud President Bill Clinton before his State of the Union address Jan. 19, 1999, in Washington, D.
C. Candice C. Cusic, Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert pays the check at the Cozy Corner Family Restaurant in Yorkville on Feb.
16, 1999. Mario Petitti, Chicago Tribune U. S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert holds a news conference Feb. 12, 2001, on the driveway of his home in Yorkville to let the media know that he is fine after surgery the night before to alleviate discomfort from kidney stones. Candice C.
Cusic, Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert gets his hair cut by Chuck Wolfe, owner of Chuck's in Yorkville, on Feb. 16, 1999. E.
Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert awaits a television interview on election night in Aurora on Nov. 6, 2002. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, right, and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, notice that Hastert is wearing the same tie as in his portrait during the painting's official unveiling at the U.
S. Captiol on July 28, 2009, in Washington. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune President George W.
Bush shakes hands with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, right, after addressing a joint session of Congress and a national television audience at the U.S. Capitol on Feb.
28, 2001. Vice President Dick Cheney, center, applauds Bush. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Dennis Hastert, new Speaker of the House, is congratulated by Democratic Minority Leader Dick Gephardt on Jan.
6, 1999. Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune Former U.S.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert takes part in a panel discussion at Wheaton College on Oct. 30, 2012. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune U.
S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, left, Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi walk toward the microphones outside the West Wing of the White House following their meeting with President George W. Bush on March 21, 2003.
Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves Chicago's Dirksen U.
S. Courthouse on June 9, 2015, after pleading not guilty to charges he evaded bank regulations and lied to the FBI. Armando L.
Sanchez / Chicago Tribune Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves the federal court after being sentenced to 15 months in prison at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on April 27, 2016, in Chicago.
Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 18, 2005. Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune Former U.S.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert at a panel discussion at Wheaton College on Oct. 30, 2012. Bonnie Trafelet, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert thanks supporter Sondra Hecox of St.
Charles on election night Nov. 7, 2006, at the Baker Hotel in St. Charles.
Stephanie Sinclair, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert greets supporters on election night, Nov. 7, 2000, in Aurora. Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and former Gov.
Rod Blagojevich talk with reporters after a meeting with legislative leaders to discuss the budget July 31, 2008, in Chicago. Stephanie Sinclair, Chicago Tribune U.S.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert watches as fishing instructor Owen Owens tries to untangle his line from a tree during an early-morning fishing trip to Valley Forge State Park in Pennsylvania on July 31, 2000. Jose More, Chicago Tribune Newly elected U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, right, and Mayor Richard M. Daley announce a $2.5 million federal grant for Chicago Public Schools' substance abuse programs Jan.
8, 1999. Steven Rosenberg / Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert walks through the U.S.
Capitol building, August 4, 2004 in Washington D.C. flanked by security and members of his staff.
Hastert had held the position of Speaker for 6 years and recently wrote a book detailing his life and career. Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune U.S.
Rep. Dennis Hastert waves as he is introduced as speaker of the House by Rep. Nancy Pelosi at the U.
S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2003.
Pelosi was the first woman to be nominated as Speaker of the House; she lost to Hastert in an expected party-line vote. Seth Perlman, AP Former U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert enjoys his visit March 5, 2008, to the Illinois House at the state Capitol in Springfield. Hastert was being honored by Illinois lawmakers for his many years of legislative service. Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune Cardinal Francis George, left, and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert talk after each spoke about the need for immigration reform during a conference at DePaul University on Feb.
, 4, 2014. Stephanie Sinclair, Chicago Tribune House Speaker Dennis Hastert is prepped for a CBS news show on election night, Nov. 7, 2000, in Aurora.
Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives at the Dirksen U.
S. Courthouse on June 9, 2015, to head to his arraignment. Hastert is accused of evading banking regulations and lying to the FBI.
John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune Signature from Dennis Hastert in a memorial book from the 1995 funeral of Stephen Reinboldt. Hastert attended his funeral.
Jolene Burdge, Reinboldt's sister, says she confronted Hastert at the funeral about the alleged sexual abuse of her brother. Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune Former U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrives for sentencing at Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on April 27, 2016.
Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, left, greets former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson at a cocktail party for the Illinois delegation at the Republican National Convention in New York City on Aug. 29, 2004.
Steven Rosenberg / Chicago Tribune Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in his office at the U.S. Capitol on August 4, 2004.
Pete Souza, Chicago Tribune Gov. George Ryan chats with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert before the start of a luncheon with the Illinois delegation on Capitol Hill on March 11, 1999. Val Mazzenga, Chicago Tribune State Reps.
Dennis Hastert and Jane Barnes speak in 1983 on the bipartisan Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago. The group studied child abuse. Rep.
Aaron Jaffe, D-Skokie, and Hastert, R-Oswego, co-chaired the group. David Butow, Chicago Tribune State Rep. Dennis Hastert campaigns for Congress in 1986 in Aurora.
Associated Press Former U.S. Rep.
Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., is shown in this 1973 Yorkville High School yearbook photo when he was the school's wrestling coach. He is the U.
S. House's longest-serving Republican speaker. Former U.
S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse in Chicago after sentencing on April 27, 2016. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) U.S.
Rep. Dennis Hastert of Yorkville served in Congress from 1987 to 2007, the last eight years as speaker of the House. After Hastert left office and became a lobbyist, federal law enforcement authorities in 2015 alleged he had agreed to pay $3.
5 million to someone from Yorkville so the person would stay quiet about “prior misconduct.” Dennis Hastert timeline: Key events in the rise and fall of the former U.S.
House Speaker In 2016, prosecutors said Hastert sexually abused five students decades earlier when he was a high school teacher and wrestling coach. Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison , sex offender treatment and two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. Charles Hayes, right, then a congressional candidate, walks after voting in a primary election in 1983.
(Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune) A Chicago congressman from 1983 to 1993, U.S. Rep.
Charles Hayes lost a primary election to Bobby Rush amid revelations Hayes was embroiled in the House Banking Scandal. The scandal broke in 1992 when it was revealed House members were allowed to overdraw their House checking accounts without being penalized by the House bank. U.
S. Rep. Charles Hayes lost a primary election to Ald.
Bobby Rush after being identified in March 1992 as one of Congress’ most prolific check-bouncers. (Chicago Tribune) Hayes was one of 22 members identified by the House Ethics Committee as being among the worst offenders. He overdrew more than 700 checks .
The overdrawing of checks was not illegal, but Hayes lost his bid for reelection. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, arrive for their sentencing hearing in 2013 in Washington.
(Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Jesse Jackson Jr. was a U.S.
congressman from 1995 until his resignation in 2012. A Democrat from Chicago’s South Side, he is the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
He was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2013 after spending about $750,000 in campaign cash on luxury goods, household items, vacations, celebrity memorabilia and mounted elk heads. William Lorimer, second from right, appears in an undated photo. Editor’s note: This historic glass-plate negative shows damage.
(Chicago Tribune historical photo) William Lorimer was chosen by state lawmakers and not voters to serve in the U.S. Senate.
In 1912, the Senate expelled Lorimer and ruled his election was invalid because he attained the post through corrupt methods, including bribing state legislators. “By the crushing vote of 55 to 28 ..
. (William) Lorimer was ousted from the senate chamber on the ground that he never had a legal right to occupy a seat therein,” the Tribune reported on July 14, 1912. (Chicago Tribune) After Lorimer’s dismissal, the 17th Amendment providing for direct election of U.
S. senators became part of the U.S.
Constitution. U.S.
Rep. M. Alfred Michaelson, a supporter of Prohibition, was acquitted of possessing luggage containing smuggled liquor.
(Walinger) As a congressman, U.S. Rep.
M. Alfred Michaelson was indicted in 1928 for violating the Volstead Act banning alcohol. Michaelson at the time was a proponent of Prohibition.
He was charged in Florida with possessing luggage that was leaking liquor smuggled from Cuba. He was later acquitted of the charges when his brother-in-law testified that the bag was his . Michaelson was not reelected after the charges became public.
U.S. Rep.
Mel Reynolds and his wife, Marisol, enter the Cook County Criminal Court Building in Chicago during his sexual misconduct trial in 1995. (Carl Wagner/Chicago Tribune) A U.S.
congressman elected in 1992, Mel Reynolds was indicted in 1994 on allegations of sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. Cook County prosecutors accused Reynolds of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer. In 1995, Reynolds was convicted of having sex with the underage intern and trying to cover it up.
While he was serving a five-year sentence in that case, Reynolds was convicted again for illegally raising campaign cash while in Congress and defrauding banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. President Bill Clinton commuted Reynolds’ fraud sentence in 2001, with two years remaining to be served. Following his release, Reynolds tried repeatedly to regain his congressional seat.
Criminal Judge Fred Suria Jr. sentenced a still-defiant U.S.
Rep. Mel Reynolds to five years in prison for having sex with a 16-year-old girl and trying to sabotage the case against him. (Chicago Tribune) After a federal judged sentenced him to six months behind bars for failing to file tax returns in May 2018, Reynolds went to prison for the third time in his ill-fated career.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Reynolds said he was “done with America” and planned to move to South Africa with his daughter as soon as he completed his sentence. U.S.
Rep. Dan Rostenkowski begins a weekend trip to his Chicago home by catching a ride to the airport on the Washington, D.C.
, subway in 1985. (Paul F. Gero/Chicago Tribune) Dan Rostenkowski was a U.
S. congressman from 1959 to 1995 who was for many years considered one of the most powerful politicians in the U.S.
as he headed the House Ways and Means Committee. In 1994, he was indicted on corruption charges for his role in the House Post Office scandal. Rostenkowski faced an array of charges, from ghost-payrolling and using congressional funds to buy gifts for friends to trading in officially purchased stamps for cash at the House Post Office.
Former U.S. Rep.
Dan Rostenkowski was among 62 people given clemency by President Bill Clinton in late 2000. The pardon expunged Rostenkowski’s 1996 felony conviction on two counts of mail fraud. (Chicago Tribune) He lost his seat to an upstart Republican, and in 1996 he pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and served about 15 months in prison after treatment for cancer .
He maintained his innocence throughout the rest of his life , and his official record was also wiped clean just before Christmas 2000 when he was pardoned by President Bill Clinton. Gus Savage, a newspaper publisher at the time of this 1977 news conference, later was elected to the U.S.
House. (Hardy Wieting/Chicago Tribune) U.S.
Rep. Gus Savage was a congressman from 1981 to 1993. He lost in the 1992 Democratic primary to Mel Reynolds.
Savage was accused in 1989 of trying to force himself on a female Peace Corps worker in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although he denied the allegations, the House Ethics Committee ruled the events did occur. The committee did not take disciplinary action against Savage after the congressman wrote a letter of apology.
U.S. Rep.
Aaron Schock is besieged by media as he arrives at an immigration reform panel in 2015 in Chicago.(Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) From Peoria, U.S.
Rep. Aaron Schock served from 2009 until 2015. First elected at age 27, he was the youngest member of Congress at the time.
Schock’s fall from grace began with stories of his lavish tastes, including an extravagant remodeling of his Washington office inspired by the British television series “Downton Abbey.” During a February 2015 appearance on ABC News, Schock said of his critics: “As Taylor Swift says, ‘Haters are going to hate.’ ” U.
S. Rep. Aaron Schock’s Washington office was remodeled for free by an interior designer.
(Chicago Tribune) After he resigned amid a federal investigation, Schock was hit with a sweeping criminal indictment in Springfield alleging he used his government and campaign funds to pay for personal luxuries, including private jets, skybox tickets at Soldier Field, and traveling to get a haircut. Schock in 2019 reached a deal with prosecutors who agreed to drop charges against him if he stayed out of trouble and paid $42,000 to the IRS and $68,000 to his congressional campaign fund. His campaign committee pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Frank L. Smith returns to his hometown of Dwight in 1927 after being refused a seat in the U.S.
Senate. (Tribune archive photo) In 1926, Illinois voters elected Frank L. Smith to the U.
S. Senate, but he was denied admission to that body when it became known that Samuel Insull, the powerful owner of public utility corporations, contributed $125,000 to Smith’s primary campaign fund while Smith was still chairing the Illinois Commerce Commission, which oversaw such utilities. Accepting the contributions under these circumstances represented a conflict of interest.
Since Smith’s acceptance of these contributions was “harmful to the dignity and honor of the Senate,” a Senate committee investigating the matter concluded that he should not be seated . Of the almost $786,000 spent by Republican and Democrats during the Illinois primaries of April 13, 1925, almost $288,000 was spent on behalf of Frank L. Smith.
About $125,000 of that came from utility executive Samuel Insull. (Chicago Tribune) When incumbent Sen. William B.
McKinley died, Gov. Len Small appointed Smith to fill the vacancy. That tactic failed, however, when the Senate found Smith’s credentials “tainted with fraud and corruption” and refused by a vote of 61 to 23 to allow him to take the oath.
On his third try for a Senate seat in 1928, Smith was defeated in the primary. Former U.S.
Rep. Charles Wharton is back home at on 52nd Street “with his delighted wife” in 1931 after serving prison time related to a mail robbery plot. (Chicago Herald and Examiner) A congressman from 1905 to 1907, Charles S.
Wharton was indicted years later as part of a plot to rob a mail train in Evergreen Park. Wharton, who was suspected of providing a hideaway for the robbers but maintained his innocence, was found guilty of conspiracy and received two years in prison. Interested in exploring the Tribune’s archives further? We’re partnering with Newspapers.
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