Article from The American Spectator
For more than 26 years, Congressman John P. “Jack” Murtha (D-Penn.) has not been truthful about his involvement in the ABSCAM corruption sting, court records and the complete video of his meeting with the FBI show.
In recent years, only a 13-second video of Murtha’s videotaped meeting with the FBI agents was publicly available. The American Spectator has obtained a copy of the full, original video from a source close to the ABSCAM corruption sting investigation on the condition of anonymity. The court transcript is publicly available at the National Archives.
The video clips of Murtha negotiating with undercover FBI agents that the Spectator presents and analyzes here have never been seen by the public, and were thought to have been destroyed.
( For a transcript of the meeting, click here.) What is important is that this is previously unseen material.
Murtha has repeatedly maintained his innocence in the Abscam sting operation, even as recently as this year. However, his November 20, 1980 testimony in the trial of Congressmen Frank Thompson (D-N.J.) and John Murphy (D-N.Y.) and the FBI’s complete undercover video of his January 7, 1980 meeting with its agent and informant reveal a man showcasing his political influence and apparently tempted to take a $50,000 bribe.
On the tape, Murtha appears eager to arrange his own, long-term deal with the supposed representatives of Arab sheiks, and to cut out Thompson and Murphy. His testimony reveals that after his January 7 meeting, he looked into helping the sheiks enter the country, rather than contacting the FBI or the Ethics Committee, of which he was a member.
Through the years, Murtha has maintained that he only met with the FBI agents to discuss investments in his district. His testimony, the video, and the cases of other congressmen snared in ABSCAM suggest that “investments in the district” was a common ABSCAM defense for those accused of bribery.
The rest of the Abscam’s Path to Congress report, full article HERE.
Wild Thing’s comment……..
I watched the entire thing, it takes about 53 minutes and is well worth it. The democrats are and have been a filthy corrupt disaster for decades.
It may never happen, but I can’t imagine anything, other than a error free lie detector machine, that would clean up Congress more than term limits. Some of these bastards have been in office longer than the average life span, and you wonder if some of them actually died several campaigns ago and the system just keeps their cadavers in office.
Next to immigration reform, term limits would be the best improvement by Congress.
Tom that would be fantastic if that could happen with a machine like that.
And I agree too, I would LOVE for there to be term limits for Congress. These people get in their and settle in for life way too much!!