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:
Dan Crane
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.
Edward E. Denison
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.
Dennis Hastert
1 of 47
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
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.
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.
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
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.
After Lorimer’s dismissal, the 17th Amendment providing for direct election of U.S. senators became part of the U.S. Constitution.
M. Alfred Michaelson
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.
Mel Reynolds
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.
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.
Dan Rostenkowski
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.
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
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.
Aaron Schock
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.’”
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
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.
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.
Charles S. Wharton
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.
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