Politics – an endless source of debate, lies, secrets, and initiatives. It can make us and break us at the same time and our world is basically revolving around it.
Clearly, being a politician comes with tremendous responsibility as each of these individuals holds the power of changing our lives. But are they ready for that kind of responsibility?
Although our society has evolved so much over the past few decades, many politicians are still struggling to create the impression of honest, fair, and impartial individuals.
And, truth be told, most of them are anything but that.
No matter how much politicians are trying to hide their dirty little secrets, they always resurface one way or another. For some, we might never know the entire truth – but staying informed on what we do know can help us learn the truth.
With that in mind, let’s have a look at 15 of the most scandalous secrets our politicians are trying to hide!
Child molesters can be politicians too
If you thought the young girls’ stories were too much, just wait until you find out (or remember) former Republican Congressman Dennis Hastert.
I’m not going to get into details due to respect for the victims, but Hastert had been spending years molesting boys while he worked as a wrestling coach in Illinois.
What’s worse, Hastert even admitted to it publicly during a fraud trial that involved one of his victims! However, since limitation statutes for those crimes had expired, he was only accused of fraud. Judge Thomas Durkin, who led the trial later, described Hastert as a serial child molester.
This man served as the Speaker of the House for years and it took this long for his victims to get some form of justice! It’s simply unbelievable!
Senators can get away with corruption
Let’s say you become a U.S. senator: you’re trying to do a decent job, making some statements, and benefit from your status through corruption. But what if you get caught?
Most people would think the game’s over at that point. However, former Senator Bob Menendez’s story proves just the opposite.
A few years ago, this New Jersey Democrat was involved in an 11-week-long trial after being accused of bribery. More precisely, Menendez had been using a wealthy donor’s private jet in exchange for some government favors.
At the time, no senator had faced this type of trial in 36 years. The situation apparently confused jury members who just couldn’t settle on a verdict. The result? He got away with everything.
You’d think this kind of story would make headlines, but Menendez’s case didn’t even appear on the news. Coincidence? I think not.
Hiding Russian connections from the FBI
After Donald Trump was elected president, his first recommendation for the National Security Adviser was Michael Flynn.
When Flynn had to get his security clearance, he declared that he had taken a trip to Moscow to attend a gala hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin; he also said that the trip had been paid for by an American media company.
He lied.
Security officials soon found out that Flynn’s trip was actually supported by the Russian state news agency RT.
Shortly after this incident, the FBI questioned him on his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Flynn refused to confess anything and invoked the Fifth Amendment, thus proving that he wanted to gain access to our country’s classified documents and use that information for his Russian connections.
Lying can get you far
How far, you ask? Well, it can help you get elected as the US President, that’s for sure!
At the time Donald Trump was elected president, he was telling an average of 9 lies every single day. In fact, experts from the Washington Post did their math and found that Trump made 1,628 false declarations within the first 10 months at the White House.
Still not impressed? How about the time he recommended a malaria drug to treat COVID-19 on national television, which made 2 people risk their lives and led to one fatality?
It’s true – every single politician lies at some point. It seems like it’s part of their job description. However, Donald Trump has somehow managed to make every other politician’s lies look more innocent than they really are.
Lobbyists making their own laws
What if I told you lobbyists can write a bill and the Congress votes it into law without modifications?
In 2017, a group of insurance companies and doctors wrote a bill that would reduce the charges doctors face when they’re accused of malpractice.
This scandalous attempt of saving their own skin got to Congress and almost got voted into law. There were absolutely no public hearings (as it usually happens with new bills that get proposed). Steve King, (R-Iowa) was found to have sponsored the initiative, proving that sometimes politicians can truly make their own rules.
Nepotism really works well
This practice has been around forever and it shows no signs of stopping. Of course, it doesn’t happen in politics alone; many influential people from all domains of work are getting jobs for their relatives that they would never usually have.
However, things really got out of hand when former president Donald Trump hired two of his closest family members at the White House for positions they were 100% unqualified for. Thanks to nepotism and his White House Chair, Trump was able to nominate his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner for the position of Advisors to the President.
Even though this is just the most obvious example, many other politicians are practicing the same move, thus reducing the quality of politics in our country.
Foreign governments can influence elections
If you thought presidential elections were 100% fair and accurate, surprise!
They’re not – not in 2020 at least when the Russian government made surprising efforts to undermine Biden’s presidential campaign so his opponent, Donald Trump, would get a second term of presidency.
Even though it took the Office of the Director of National Intelligence a few months to create a special report on the subject, it has been proven. According to the official report, Russian government members have been trying to “denigrate President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party by supporting former President Trump and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the U.S”.
During an interview for ABC’s Good Morning America, current President Joe Biden said that Biden will pay a price for his actions.
Presidents can hide their tax returns
Our country’s presidents have been publishing their tax returns for decades. This common practice has been around starting the 1970s… and apparently, it stopped when Donald Trump was elected president.
Strangely, during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump insisted on how he would release his tax returns as soon as possible or when an audit was complete.
The election came and went, yet Donald Trump didn’t make any of his tax returns public. Shortly after inauguration day, though, the media insisted on the topic, to which Trump’s spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway replied that the White House said he’s not going to release any of his tax returns.
Young girls and women are a good catch
None of us are saints and we can’t ask our politicians to be either. However, there are some things, such as affairs involving underaged girls or young women, most of us just can’t get over. Years ago, Donald Trump made a concerning statement, saying that if Ivanka weren’t his daughter, he’d probably be dating her.
To some, it may seem like a joke – but for all the women suffering from abuse in silence, it’s anything but that.
Here’s another example: former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, Roy Moore. This politician has always been eccentric, but things took a much darker turn when he candidate for U.S. Senator of Alabama.
It was only then that multiple witnesses and victims started confessing how Moore was cruising around the town during the 1970s looking for young girls to date. Three women accused him of molesting them (two of whom were still minors at the time of the event) while Moore was in his 30s.
On November 10th, 2017, Moore said he knew two of the accusers. Two weeks later, he said he didn’t know any of these women.
Citizens United took your power away
Theoretically, our country provides equal rights to everyone and every vote matters the same way. In reality, if you’re rich enough, you basically make the call when it comes to local elections – all thanks to the 2010 Citizens United case.
Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission is one of the most debated trials related to democracy. It made the Supreme Court reverse all the financial campaign restrictions politicians had had for more than 100 years.
In other terms, any wealthy individual, corporation, or other type of organization could spend unlimited funds on elections. Sure, these entities have been influencing elections (more or less) forever, but now it’s all legal and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Learning the truth
Truth be told, we’ll probably never find out the real secrets US politicians are so desperately trying to hide. What we can do, though, is to keep an eye out for new laws and initiatives, as well as stay informed on our voting rights and how we can make a difference.
Here at The Captain, we strive to gather verified information and keep you up to date with everything you should know about the country we live in – especially in these unprecedented times.
Our latest posts can give you an insight into Biden’s presidency and more:
If you want to discover more about American politics, check out this book, because it’s an amazing one!
