Abscam
EventWikipedia
12
MENTIONS
9
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 12 mentions across 9 episodes found for "Abscam".
Oct 22, 2026
Greg KellyHOST
Just all the time.
Greg KellyHOST
In New Jersey, the Abscam case.
Greg KellyHOST
Remember Abscam? Upstate, there was some guy.
Greg KellyHOST
It's just like a...
Greg KellyHOST
But this, oh my goodness gracious.
Ed McDonaldGUEST
Yeah, that's the impression I had about the way he carried himself.
Ed McDonaldGUEST
And of course, I also got involved in the Abscam case.
Ed McDonaldGUEST
You know, it was a case in which we prosecuted four congressmen, and I tried the senator from New Jersey, Williams.
Ed McDonaldGUEST
During that period of time, I kind of lost interest in Lufthansa.
Jeff StylesHOST
You had the rise of Ronald Reagan, which was distinctly connected to what happened to the hostages in Iran and Jimmy Carter's inability to get them out.
Jeff StylesHOST
You had Abscam, which one of the first after Watergate, it was the first big government corruption story.
Jeff StylesHOST
And if you want to look into it, it actually was fairly intriguing.
Jeff StylesHOST
But it had to do with some congressmen that were willing to basically sell their souls to some, you know, Mideast oil person.
Amber MayHOST
Okay, let me share screen.
speaker_9SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Agents of FBI's counterintelligence unit engaged in an operation that spanned five states and resulted in multiple arrests in what the Department of Justice is claiming represents the largest sting operation since the ABSCAM operation in 1978, which led to the arrest and conviction of seven members of Congress, the mayor of
Ben BergquamSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Well, you weren't kidding.
speaker_9SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
...
speaker_10VOICE_ACTOR
They always do
speaker_11SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Agents of FBI's counterintelligence unit engaged in an operation that spanned five states and resulted in multiple arrests in what the Department of Justice is claiming represents the largest sting operation since the ABSCAM operation in 1978, which led to the arrest and conviction of seven members of Congress, the mayor of
speaker_10VOICE_ACTOR
Well, you weren't kidding
speaker_11SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
...
LewisHOST
They kept talking about how nice it would be to have a boat to go out for a sea cruise.
LewisHOST
And this is at the point in time where the FBI are running the operation called Abscam, or they've been running it a few months prior to this whole
ElliotHOST
episode.
ElliotHOST
Okay.
LewisHOST
Abscam is an operation where the FBI tried to reveal the fact that senators were being paid off by wealthy Arab millionaires, billionaires, sheikhs, you know, that sort of thing.
LewisHOST
And so they hired this boat, the left hand, in order to get these senators out there to a place that they thought they couldn't possibly be overheard out at sea.
LewisHOST
And all of these FBI agents, you know, dressing up as Arab millionaires, etc., are paying them off.
17 MINS LATER
LewisHOST
Right.
John PodhoretzHOST
And, uh, though the executive branch as the criminal investigative body of the United States at the federal level, though congressmen are not above the law, be- beyond the law, people have been indicted for fraud, people have been indicted for embezzlement.
John PodhoretzHOST
There was Abscam.
John PodhoretzHOST
You know, there was, uh, Duke, um, was it Duke Cunningham? The guy, uh, con- uh, Republican, uh, congressman from San Diego who, like, had 2 million in gold bullion in his office, and there was b- the con- Democratic congressman from Louisiana or Alabama who had $90,000 in a safe in his office, all these, you know, bribes and things
Eliana JohnsonPANELIST
thingsIt was, I think it was in a freezer
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I believe it was something to the effect of he was on special assignment for the president.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Um, what I heard later through my mom was that he was involved in the Abscam investigation and had been for a period even leading up to, to after the election in November and before the administration took over.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Um, he was somehow involved in that, and, but that was as much as we knew.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Like, and he didn't tell me when we were talking anything about what he was doing actively.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I believe it was something to the effect of he was on special assignment for the president.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Um, what I heard later through my mom was that he was involved in the Abscam investigation and had been for a period even leading up to, to after the election in November and before the administration took over.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Um, he was somehow involved in that, and, but that was as much as we knew.
Brent FriedmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Like, and he didn't tell me when we were talking anything about what he was doing actively.