Chief Executives are Regularly Convicted in US States

If the GOP says US Presidents are special, then they are admitting that states are not important sovereign entities but marginal political players

Since 1960, two dozen US governors have been indicted and convicted of criminal activity, overwhelmingly after serving in office (see list below at the end of the post). That is the norm since crimes by politicians often come to light after they leave office.

That is aside from the far larger number of other state leaders convicted of crimes. Notably, New York, where Trump looks ready to be indicted, also indicted and convicted a State Assembly Speaker - a Democrat - and convicted a Senate President- a Republican- just in the last decade.

This is on top of the even larger number of Governors forced to resign from office or impeached for unethical or illegal activity, as documented in this exhaustive analysis by Pew; again, New York investigations led to the ouster of two Governors, Andrew Cuomo and Elliot Spitzer, as well as Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, just in the last two decades. So Republicans can really be quiet about “partisan Democrat investigators” that have forced the resignation of far more Democratic officeholders than Republicans in New York.

Republicans may claim that the US President is special because our nation is the real sovereign entity and states are far more minor subordinate entities. Which is a reasonable view that I fully agree with - but it flies in the face of Republican “states rights” rhetoric and Federalist Society Supreme Court Justices who have upheld the “sovereign immunity” of state governments repeatedly. If it’s normal to indict and remove chief executives of state governments, then any ideological consistency requires Republicans to accept the indictment of Presidents as part of our political traditions.

And notably, 76 countries around the world have indicted and jailed former national leaders since 2000, so prosecuting Trump here is not unusual on a global scale.

Caution is warranted in any criminal investigation of political leaders because the danger of misusing the criminal justice system to target political opponents is real. (Why chants of “lock her up” were so repulsive). But New York DA Alvin Bragg has been quite methodical in his investigations - and has been widely criticized in New York for not moving faster to indict Trump. And Trump will still have the protection of being able to remain free as long as he can convince even one juror of his innocence.

As for the GOP as a whole, live by “states’ rights” as a motto and you get to have national leaders treated like state leaders, subject to the rule of law, the horror.

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List of Governors convicted of crimes since 1960

• Rod Blagojevich (D) - Illinois Governor, 2002-2009: Bribery, mail, and wire fraud. Sentenced to 14 years.

• Otto Kerner, Jr. (D) - Illinois Governor, 1961-1968: Conspiracy, mail fraud, income tax evasion. Sentenced 3 years.

• George H. Ryan (R) - Illinois Governor, 1999-2003: Bribery, racketeering, fraud. Sentenced 6.5 years.

• Ray Blanton (D) - Tennessee Governor, 1975-1979: Mail fraud, conspiracy, extortion. Served 22 months.

• Edwin Edwards (D) - Louisiana Governor, 1972-1996: Racketeering, extortion, money laundering, mail and wire fraud. Sentenced 10 years.

• Richard W. Leche (D) - Louisiana Governor, 1936-1939: 10 years federal prison (corruption, mail fraud)

• David Hall (D) - Oklahoma Governor, 1971-1975: 19 months prison (bribery, extortion)

• William Langer (R/Non-Partisan League) - North Dakota Governor, 1933-1934, 1937-1939: 18 months federal prison ($10,000 fine)

• Arch A. Moore, Jr. (R) - West Virginia Governor, 1969-1977 and 1985-1989: around 3 years federal prison (extortion, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, false income tax returns)

• John G. Rowland (R) - Connecticut Governor, 1995-2004: 10 months prison (corruption scheme); 30 months prison (election fraud, obstruction of justice)

• Robert J. Bentley (R) - Alabama Governor, 2011-2017: Resigned in 2017 due to two misdemeanor charges and a scandal involving an affair with his senior political advisor.

• Roger B. Wilson (D) - Missouri Governor, 2000-2001: Sentenced in 2012 for illegally funneling political contributions.

• Mike Easley (D) - North Carolina Governor, 2001-2009: Pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws and paid a $1,000 fine.

• Bob Taft (R) - Ohio Governor, 1999-2007: Pleaded no contest in 2005 to four misdemeanor ethical violations and was sentenced to pay a $4,000 fine and write an apology.

• Bill Janklow (R) - South Dakota Governor, 1979-1986, 1995-2002: Convicted of manslaughter in 2003 for crashing into and killing a motorcyclist. Sentenced to 100 days in county jail and three years probation.

• J. Fife Symington III (R) - Arizona Governor, 1991 - 1997: Convicted in 1997 of bank fraud, making false financial statements, and extortion. Conviction overturned, but later pardoned by Pres. Clinton in 2001.

• H. Guy Hunt (R) - Alabama - 1987-1993 - Personal use of donations, ethics violations, removed from office, $211k fine, five years probation, died 2009.

• Jim Guy Tucker (D) - Arkansas - 1992-1996 - Fraud, conspiracy, fraudulent loans, $294k fine, no prison term due to liver disease.

• David L. Walters (D) - Oklahoma - 1991-1995 - 1 felony charge, campaign contribution violations, perjury, conspiracy, fine and expunged report after 12 months, maintains innocence.

• Edward D. DiPrete (R) - Rhode Island - 1985-1991 - 18 counts of corruption, bribery from contractors, 1 year in prison.

• Evan Mecham (R) - Arizona - 1987-1988 - Obstruction of justice, misuse of public money, perjury, acquitted, no charges.

• Dan Walker (D) - Illinois - 1973-1977 - Perjury, bank fraud, misapplication of bank funds, sentenced to 7 years, released after 17 ½ months due to health, died 2015.

• Marvin Mandel (D) - Maryland - 1969-1977 - Conspiracy to profit from race track, fraud, served 19 months, sentence commuted to time served by Pres. Reagan, died 2015.

• Wally Barron (D) - West Virginia - 1961-1965 - Bribery and conspiracy, sentenced to 25 years, served 4, died 2002.