Abscam: FBI Fake Sheiks, Hidden Cameras, and Congressmen Taking Cash

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Abscam began in March 1978 as an art theft and stolen property sting run by agent John Good out of the FBI's Hauppauge office on Long Island. The Bureau enlisted convicted swindler Melvin Weinberg, who with girlfriend Evelyn Knight received probation in exchange for designing the front. Agents created Abdul Enterprises, placed $1 million in a Chase Manhattan account, and posed as wealthy Arab sheiks. The code name drew complaints from Arab American groups, and the FBI said it stood for Abdul Scam. When a suspected forger suggested Atlantic City casino licenses could be bought, the operation shifted to politics, and Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti began introducing agents to officials, promising "I'll give you Atlantic City."

Officials were offered cash, first $100,000 and later $50,000, for private immigration bills and other favors, recorded on hidden cameras in a hotel near JFK Airport, a Washington townhouse and a yacht in Florida. Six House members and Senator Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey were convicted. Defense lawyers argued entrapment, but appeals courts held that officials were free to refuse, and refusals by others undercut the defense. In 1981 Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued the first guidelines for FBI undercover operations, and historian Ivan Greenberg has suggested the sting may have reflected FBI resentment of congressional investigations in the 1970s.

• Williams was convicted on nine counts in a deal involving 18 percent of a titanium mining venture held through his lawyer.
• Representative Richard Kelly claimed he took the money as part of his own secret investigation.
• Representative John Jenrette was taped saying he had larceny in his blood.
• Representative John Murtha declined $50,000 on tape and was not prosecuted, and Senator Larry Pressler rejected the offer and reported it.
• Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione refused a proposed $300,000 bribe to gaming officials for his Atlantic City casino.