Burris has faced scrutiny after taking over President Obama's Illinois Senate seat soon after Governor Rod Blagojevich was accused of trying to sell it off to the highest bidder. Burris says he never actively sought the appointment, but a recorded conversation between Burris and Blagojevich's brother suggests otherwise. "I know I could give him a check," Burris said. "And, and God knows number one, I, I wanna help Rod," Burris said later in the call. "Number two, I also wanna, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment." Yikes.
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When federal wiretaps revealed the Illinois' governor's unabashed, profanity-filled attempts to sell off a Senate seat to the highest bidder, America was torn between being repulsed and fascinated. Blagojevich said he was upset that his advisors wanted him to let Obama choose his replacement in the Senate. Blagojevich called Obama a "motherfucker." "Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him." "The immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family," he said of filling the Senate seat.
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The California Democrat was caught on a National Security Agency wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would work to reduce espionage charges against two former officials for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee if the agent would lobby for Harmon to become chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The tapes haven't been released, but Harman was reportedly passed over for a top position in the Obama administration due to the scandal.
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New York's "Mr. Clean" governor offered $3,000 for a few hours with call girl "Kristen" (actually Ashley Dupré), while federal investigators were listening in on the line. "Yup, same as in the past, no question about it," Spitzer, called "Client 9," said about the payment. The prostitution agent, still on tape, then warned Dupree that "Client 9" might "ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe-you know-I mean that...very basic things." Spitzer spent up to $80,000 on the high-end prostitution ring, but charges against him were dropped since he didn't use state funds for the steamy liaisons.
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Federal prosecutors taped 100 of Senator Stevens' calls, which led to his conviction on seven counts of corruption. "I'm not getting much sleep. Maybe four hours, thinking about all this shit coming down," he said of the investigation. He said he was "trying to figure out why these fuckers are doing this." In another wiretap, Stevens' friends gossiped about his penny-pinching ways: "Ted gets hysterical when he has to spend his own money," said friend Robert Persons. And in another, his oil executive friend and Persons joked about hiding the paper trail that connected them to large payments renovating Stevens' house. Stevens' convictions were later overturned.
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Nixon didn't need to be tricked into a wiretap-he had the entire White House bugged as a matter of policy. After the Watergate Scandal broke, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the tapes. The "smoking gun" tape recording, of a conversation between Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman and Nixon, linked him directly to covering up the Watergate scandal. Haldeman says the FBI needs to be brought under control. "Good. Good deal! Play it tough," Nixon said. He tells Haldeman to tell investigators: "Don't go any further into this case, period!"
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In a dramatic sting operation, FBI agents videotaped D.C. Mayor Marion Barry smoking crack with his girlfriend in a hotel room. When they stormed the room and handcuffed Barry, he mutters over and over: "Bitch set me up." And a national catchphrase is born.
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Senator Williams was busted in an FBI sting operation known as ABSCAM that implicated seven other senators and dozens of other public officials. The only Senator elected to four terms, Williams went to prison when he was convicted of accepting bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab Sheiks. He also agreed to use his political influence to further a business venture he had a hidden multi-million interest in-all while being taped by the agents.
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Clinton was never caught on tape saying anything indiscreet about his affair with the White House intern, but Monica Lewinsky was not so lucky. Her colleague and confidante Linda Tripp taped hours of phone conversations. "It doesn't matter what anybody says, you just deny it," Lewinsky said she was told about her affair with Clinton. She also begged Tripp to lie about her affair: "I would be indebted to you for life. I would write you a check for the entire portion (of a condominium) I own in Australia."
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In an illegally recorded phone conversation that spread far and wide, Prince Charles and his mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles expressed their love for each other in a royally embarrassing way. Charles said he wanted to "fill up" Camilla's "tank," and even professed a joking desire to be her tampon in the six-minute conversation. "Oh, what a wonderful idea," Camilla said. "Your greatest achievement is to love me," Charles said later in the conversation.
Matt Dunham / AP Photo
Idaho Senator Larry Craig's infamous foot-tapping bathroom bust was caught on tape by the police officer who interrogated him: "I need to make this quiet," Craig says after the officer reads his Miranda rights. "I sit down to go to the bathroom and you say our feet bumped, I believe they did because I reached down and scooted over. The next thing I knew under the bathroom divider comes a card that says 'police.' That's about as far as I can take it," he said, adding, "I'm not gay. I don't do these kinds of things."
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While certainly not as incriminating as federal wiretapping probes into politicians like Blagojevich and Spitzer, we can't help but throw in Bush's not-so-sotto-voce comment about a New York Times reporter while on the campaign trail. "There's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times," Bush said to Dick Cheney, as live microphones picked up and magnified the comment. "Oh yeah, he is, big time," Cheney responded. Neither ever apologized.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo
