Free Republic

Former Rep. James Traficant woke up this morning in Summit County Jail. He is awaiting transfer to a federal prison, according to NewsChannel5. It may be hard for the boisterous, outspoken politician to deliver messages because Traficant is only allowed a total of five hours a month for phone time, and they must be collect. He is not allowed access to the Internet or e-mail. WEWS has requested an interview with Traficant, but he has not returned the call. On Tuesday, Judge Leslie Wells sentenced Traficant to eight years and fined him $150,000 on his corruption conviction. Traficant had argued...

<p>Then, James Traficant became the second U.S. House member to be kicked out since the Civil War, after his colleagues voted 420-1 to expel him last week. The nine-term Ohio Democrat was convicted of federal corruption charges in April and was scheduled to begin serving his sentence tomorrow. What does Traficant have to say about this? He'll be OUR guest. And, from outer space to cyberspace: Star Trek's Captain Kirk and Priceline pitchman William Shatner talks to Connie about his latest project, a new TV program on VH-1.</p>

In his last gasp for freedom, James Traficant looked at jurors in his corruption case and promised that he could take what they doled out. "If you find me guilty, you come out and just say it," Traficant roared. "I'll accept it like a man." Federal prosecutors say Traficant has accepted nothing about the jury's verdict in April and has failed to show any remorse. Instead, they say in pleadings filed Friday, he has accused investigators, attorneys and a judge of corruptly conspiring to bring him down. Because of those actions, and for tarnishing the image of Congress, Traficant now...

Did anybody else just hear James Traficant on the Don Imus show? It was a MILESTONE. Not because he used the S-Word (which he did) but also because Traficant just used the F-Word. It was plain to hear and marks a first. The first time the F-Word has been broadcast on a news show. It was kind of astonishing to hear the F-Word used but then I laughed. Hey, it's James Traficant we're talking about here. Anyway, another TV taboo has just been broken. And the funny thing is that Imus and his staff kept reassuring themselves that it didn't...

Now that he's facing 63 years for bribery and racketeering, Ohio Democrat Rep. James Traficant Jr.'s days in Congress are numbered. After his fellow members of Congress expel him, as they're likely to, Traficant's political obituaries will probably read something like this: Traficant was corrupt and criminal. In his earlier stint as a county sheriff in gritty eastern Ohio, he took $163,000 in mob money. To distract attention from his malfeasance, he tried to stage a fake hit, begging a deputy to shoot him. (The deputy refused.) As a congressman, he required a staffer to hand over $2,500 from his...

Comments....