James Traficant was a Democratic Party congressman who served from 1985 until he was removed from office after being convicted of numerous crimes in 2002. In 2010 he ran for his old seat as an independent and polled 16% of the vote. Congressman Traficant passed away on September 27th. The following is an official statement from America First Party:
It is with sadness that we reflect on the passing of a great
and heroic American, James Traficant — the eight-term congressman who
appears to never have swerved from the path of putting our nation’s
interests first — and we offer our heartfelt condolences to his family.
As Sheriff of Mahoning County, he put himself on the line for his
constituents by refusing to serve foreclosure notices on unemployed workers,
preferring jail time instead. Then he made history by successfully defending
himself against RICO charges, ostensibly by proving that the head of a local
FBI office was on the mob payroll. He made history again by successfully
running a low-budget campaign for Congress.
In Washington, he opposed our unbalanced policies in the Middle East, the
excessive influence of AIPAC, and fingered the Justice Department for
failing to investigate political contributions to the Democratic Party from
a Chinese general. He accused Attorney General Janet Reno of treason for
failing to investigate the theft of reams of nuclear weapons data. In doing
this, he suggested that affidavits indicated Reno was morally compromised
and subject to blackmail. He went to bat for John Demjanjuk, an Ohio
resident forcibly deported to Israel to stand trial for being a Nazi camp
guard, successfully using information in the Justice Department’s possession
to prove he was not what was claimed.
Jim Traficant was undeterred by political or media pressure, and was a
genuine threat to the corrupt establishment. In his hurried expulsion from
Congress, he was given markedly less consideration than his sexually
perverted colleagues, despite much indication of witness tampering. We will
miss both his heroic witness and his zany humor.
It seems that his often stated wish has now been granted: “Beam me up,
Scotty! There is no intelligent life here.”
Contact:
Jonathan Hill, National Chairman 1-866-SOS-USA1, ext 4
John Pittman Hey, National Secretary, [email protected]