| | (2001) Linda Chavez, nomination as Secretary of Labor derailed by past employment of illegal alien. |
| | (2002) Enron collapse leading to investigation of Kenneth Lay, a top political ally and financial donor to the election campaign of President George W. Bush; Lay, who had been named as a leading candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, eventually indicted in 2004. Attempts to link individual politicians with the Enron malfeasance have not been particularly successful, perhaps partly due to the fact that so many politicians of both major parties received campaign contributions. |
| | (2002) Jim Traficant (D-OH) financial corruption conviction and expulsion from House |
| | (2002) Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) bribery scandal |
| | (2003) Yellowcake forgery. Evidence alleged to be forged was presented in the case for 2003 invasion of Iraq ; related Valerie Plame affair (2004), eventually implicating Vice Presidential Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby (indicted 2005 for perjury) |
| | (2004-2005) Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal |
| | (2004-2005) Tom DeLay (R-TX), reprimanded twice by House Ethics Committee and aides indicted ; eventually DeLay himself was indicted (October 2005); Delay resigned from the House 9 June, 2006 |
| | (2004) Bernard Kerik, nomination as Secretary of Homeland Security derailed by past employment of illegal alien as nanny, and amid allegations of various other ethical improprieties |
| | (2005) Former Clinton administration National Security Advisor Sandy Berger pleads guilty to unlawfully removing classified documents from the National Archives in October 2003 |
| | (2004-2005) Bush administration payment of columnists including Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus |
| | (2005) Downing Street Memo minutes of UK government secret meeting (dated 23 July 2002, leaked 2005) include summary of MI6 Director Sir Richard Dearlove's report that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy." |
| | (2005) Duke Cunningham (R-CA) resigned from the House of Representatives and pleaded guilty on November 28, 2005 to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004. Prosecutors said Cunningham admitted to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes. |
| | (2005) Jack Abramoff, Republican lobbyist and key figure in Tom DeLay scandal, is indicted on wire fraud charges. Representative Robert Ney (R-OH) is named as "Representative No. 1" in the indictment of Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon. Other members of Congress associated with Abramoff include Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Rep. Don Young (R-AK), James Clyburn (D-SC), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). |
| | (2005) William Jefferson (D-LA) under investigation for bribery after the FBI seized $90,000 of a $100,000 bribery payment from Jefferson's home freezer |
| | (2006) Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children and zealous champion of get-tough legislation against pedophiles, resigns from House of Representatives 29 September 2006, after reports he sent inappropriate sexually oriented e-mails and instant messages to young adult male congressional pages. |
| | (2006) "Lawyergate" The Bush administration firing of several Republican appointed lawyers. It became a scandal after it became known that the firings may have been politically motivated, rather than based on the stated reason "poor job performance." The lawyers had refused repeatedly solicitations by Republican politicians to investigate claims of voter fraud by Democrats after the 2006 elections. |