Scandals Congress since 2010

Eric Massa, Representative (Democrat-New York), resigned to avoid an ethics investigation into his admitted groping and tickling of multiple male staffers. He later stated on Fox News, "not only did I grope [a staffer], I tickled him until he couldn't breathe," (2010)

Mark Souder, Representative (Republican-Indiana), a staunch advocate of abstinence and family values, resigned to avoid an ethics investigation into his admitted extramarital affair with a female staffer. (2010)

Chris Lee, Representative (Republican-New York), resigned hours after a news report that he had sent a shirtless picture of himself flexing his muscles to a woman via Craigslist, along with flirtatious e-mails. He did not rely on a pseudonym or a false e-mail address but used his official Congressional e-mail for all communication. Lee said: "I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents.... I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness."^[ (2011)

Anthony Weiner, Representative (Democrat-New York), admitted to sending sexually explicit photos of himself to several women through his Twitter account. He resigned from Congress on June 16, 2011,^[but kept sexting after his resignation. (2011) On Nov 6, 2017, Weiner began serving a 21-month sentence for sexting a 15-year-old girl.

Scott DesJarlais, Representative (Republican-Tennessee), admitted under oath to at least six affairs, including two affairs with his patients and staffers while he was a physician at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, TN. Additionally, while running on a declared "pro-life" platform, DesJarlais made his ex-wife have two abortions, and tried to persuade a mistress who was his patient, into an abortion as well.

David Wu, Representative (Democrat-Oregon), resigned from the House of Representatives after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a fundraiser's daughter. July 26, 2011.

Vance McAllister, Representative (Republican-Louisiana), who is married and the father of five, was caught on surveillance camera deeply kissing a married staffer. Several prominent Republicans asked McAllister to resign. In response, he stated he would not seek re-election in 2016. McCallister said: "There's no doubt I've fallen short and I'm asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for forgiveness from God, my wife, my kids, my staff, and my constituents who elected me to serve". (2014)

Blake Farenthold, US Representative (Republican-Texas) was reported to have paid $84,000 of taxpayer money, via the House of Representatives Office of Compliance, to settle a sexual harassment complaint from a former staffer. Farenthold's former communications director Lauren Greene sued the congressman in December 2014, and a settlement was reached in 2015. The identity of Farenthold with respect to taxpayer involvement was made public in 2017. This was the first documented case of taxpayer funds being used to settle sexual harassment complaints against a member of Congress. (2014)

Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (Republican-Illinois), pled guilty to structuring bank withdrawals in order to conceal deliberately-unspecified misconduct by Hastert against an unnamed individual years earlier. At a sentencing hearing in October 2015, Hastert admitted that he had sexually abused boys while he worked as a high school wrestling coach decades earlier. (2015)

Tim Murphy, Representative (Republican-Pennsylvania), had an extramarital affair with Shannon Edwards, a 32-year-old forensic psychologist. The self-identified "pro-life" Murphy asked Edwards to have an abortion after she became pregnant. The information was revealed as part of Murphy's divorce proceedings and published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after it fought in Pennsylvania state court to have the documents unsealed. Murphy resigned his seat in Congress.

Joe Barton (Republican-Texas) US Representative, acknowledged he took and emailed nude photos of himself in 2015, following their leak in November 2017.He decided not to seek re-election in 2018.

John Conyers Jr. US Congressman (Democrat-Michigan), A former staffer for Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan accused the Detroit Democrat of unwanted sexual advances. A woman who had settled a sexual harassment claim against him stated that the lawmaker had "violated" her body, repeatedly propositioned her for sex and asked her to touch his genitals. He then resigned.(2017)

Trent Franks (Republican-Arizona) US Representative, was investigated by the House Ethics Commission about allegations of improper conduct. Before the study concluded, Franks abruptly resigned. (2017)^[

Pat Meehan (Republican-Pennsylvania) In January, 2018, it was revealed that US Representative Pat Meehan used tax payer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim by a female staffer. He was removed from the House Ethics Committee, but remained in office until he resigned on April 27, 2018, stating that he would repay the taxpayer money used to settle the suit. (2018)

Jim Jordan (Republican-Ohio) was accused of covering up and failing to report sexual abuse of minors by former members of the Ohio State University wrestling team by the team physician. There were multiple victims during the period when Jordan was Assistant Coach of the team from 1987 to 1995. On February 12, 2020, allegations surfaced from one of those former members that Jordan (was) ”repeatedly crying and begging him not to corroborate accounts of sexual abuse against the university’s wrestling team doctor that occurred when Jordan was a coach.

Roy S. Moore (R) candidate for the US Senate, was accused by nine women of sexual contact and assault in the 1980s when the women were teenaged girls. Though Moore denied the allegations, he lost the election.(2017)

Katie Hill, U.S. Representative (Democrat-California), In October 2019, news reports indicated that she was being investigated by the House Ethics Commission about allegations of sexual relationships with a subordinate.

The 2020 congressional insider trading scandal was a political scandal in the United States involving allegations that several members of the United States Senate violated the STOCK Act by selling stock at the start of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and just before a stock market crash on February 20, 2020, using knowledge given to them at a closed Senate meeting. The Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated a probe into the stock transactions on March 30, 2020. No charges were brought against anyone and all investigations into the matter are closed.