The corruption is the point.........

A cautionary tale about the original martyr of White working-class Americans

Opinion by Justin Gest

The political consequences of former President Donald Trump’s indictments seem unknowable. But the career of the late Democratic Rep. James Traficant of Ohio is a cautionary case study that reveals the perils of assuming that the law will ever supersede political sentiment.

For almost 20 years in Congress, Traficant represented a district centering on Youngstown, Ohio — a Rust Belt city that endured America’s steepest fall from grace.

Once a prosperous and stable steel town, Youngstown came to be one of the country’s poorest regions and most dangerous cities after the first mill suddenly announced it was shuttering on September 19, 1977. Domestic violence, substance abuse and corruption skyrocketed, and the region grew to be synonymous with post-industrial decline and the iconic White working-class voter who swung to Trump in 2016.

As a candidate for sheriff of Mahoning County, during the five-year period when Youngstown lost some 50,000 jobs, Traficant accepted $163,000 in payoffs from Mahoning County’s Cleveland mob faction and its Pittsburgh rival. Even after a federal tax court found him guilty of income tax evasion in 1984 for the bribes and for owing another $108,000 in back taxes and penalties, Traficant was elected to Congress.

The subject of a years-long investigation by the FBI, he avoided corruption charges in 1999 when the federal government convicted a senior aide of his staff, the county sheriff and the former county engineer on corruption charges. Traficant won reelection every two years — a martyr whose supporters believed had the audacity to stand up for the working man.

At every turn, Traficant reminded supporters that he was the “son of a truck driver,” that he condemned China for alleged currency manipulation and pushed hard for “Buy American” policies.

In Washington, he gained notoriety for his garish 1970s suits and bell-bottoms, his unruly gray pompadour that was, in fact, a toupee, and his arm-waving and occasionally profane tirades on the House floor that often incongruously ended with, “Beam me up, Mr. Speaker!”

He consistently bucked his Democratic Party conference and perplexed Republicans on the other side. He supported Republican Dennis Hastert for speaker and once suggested President Bill Clinton-appointed attorney general Janet Reno should run as a top official in Beijing.

But eventually, the justice system caught up. In 2002, Traficant was convicted on 10 counts of racketeering and corruption and he served seven years in prison. He became only the second member of Congress to be expelled by the chamber since the American Civil War. (Traficant died of complications following a tractor accident in 2014 at age 73.)

On the one hand, Traficant’s political demise shows that no one is above the law, at least not for three decades.

On the other hand, his ability to evade prosecution for so long and his enduring appeal among Youngstowners reveal the way politics can outlast any prosecution.

For those who wonder what the effect of the now multiple indictments will be on former President Trump’s power, three lessons emerge:

First, the corruption is the point. In the eyes of his voters, members of a constituency deeply distrustful of a federal government that embraced the global capitalism that brought their city to its knees, Traficant’s defiance of political norms and ethics reinforced his image of independence. Supporting him every two years was a middle finger to genteel Washingtonians and the political system that abandoned Youngstown.

A longtime Democratic staffer in Youngstown once told me, “People feel like they’ve been failed, and he had a message of ‘us against them.’ He made people feel like they were fighting back.”

Second, the court case was proof to his supporters that American political institutions are rigged. Much like Trump, Traficant channeled conspiracy theories from the street to the US Capitol, indulging his voters’ sense of helplessness and confusion. He advocated for violence against the Internal Revenue Service and condemned China at every opportunity. Ultimately, Traficant’s own case became his greatest conspiracy theory of all.

A decade after Traficant’s conviction, a Youngstown industrial painter looked back with me, “Jimmy Traficant got caught, but they all do it. So you take him out and put in another guy who’s stealing instead.”

According to polling by Reuters/Ipsos last week, 81% of Republicans feel Trump’s prosecution is politically motivated, even if the charges against him are believable. On the other hand, a new CNN poll this week shows support for Trump has softened following the federal indictment, with 46% of Republican voters saying the former president is still their first choice for the party’s nomination – down from 53% in a May CNN poll.

Third, Trumpism will endure independent regardless of the verdict. In 2002, Traficant ran as an independent for his former seat from prison and won 15% of his district’s vote. His photos stayed plastered on the walls of Youngstown bars, and some residents still display his campaign bumper stickers. The Royal Oaks pub in Youngstown even held a birthday bash for Traficant while he was imprisoned, and long had a framed illustration of Traficant being crucified with a crown of thorns. He’s a legend.

Traficant also had coattails. In the 2002 congressional election, Youngstown sent a former Traficant staffer, Tim Ryan, to Congress. Ryan, also a Democrat, occupied that seat until this year.

But it is with Trump’s political ascendance that Traficant’s anti-establishment, populist, nationalist legacy truly lives on.

“It was just bartering,” a Youngstown bartender once told me about Traficant’s dealings. “He went to jail for it, but he cared a lot about the working man — the little man, the small businessman, that’s what built this valley.”

Contrary to popular belief, Trump does not command a cult of personality because of his perceived virtue. He has come to embody the struggles, imperfections and grievances of many of his supporters. His prosecution is their own.