Our Threatened Freedom
Was Abscam a Disgrace for Our Federal Government
Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony
Subject: Political Studies
Lesson: 123-169
Genre: Conversation
Track: 123
Dictation Name: Vol. J - Part 06 - Was Abscam a Disgrace for Our Federal Government
Location/Venue: Unknown
Year: 1980’s – 1990’s
[Dr. Rushdoony] Was Abscam a disgrace for our Federal Government? This is R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedom.
What concerns me these days is that we have not yet have had a clean and honest report on Abscam. What apparently happened was that some members of Congress accepted bribes from phony Arabs, and were filmed doing so. Some reports say that members of Congress were targets of reprisals by the last administration. Other reports indicate that the members of Congress cooperated, believing they were helping the FBI to nail a bribing Arab leader. What the truth is, I do not know, but it is clear that there was something strange about the operation. The federal government used confidence men who had served time in prison to carry on Abscam. A sham sheik and a sham company, Abdul Enterprises, were created. One of the confidence men in the operation is alleged to have carried on some scams of his own on the side. As the California magazine reported it, some honest business men were fleeced of large sums of money, believing they were dealing with a legitimate company interested in investing Arab money in America. Abscam was set up for Washington D.C and Congress, but California businessmen were involved by the confidence men. California magazine reported that one man, {?} of San Diego says, quote, “He has lost everything, his business, his reputation, his fine house overlooking Mission Bay, his yacht, his cars, his credit, his friends. He lives now in a trailer on the outskirts of San Diego.” Unquote.
{?} and others were bilked, it is claimed, by being required to put up deposits to secure the bogus loans. These men have now filed a nine hundred million dollars conspiracy suit against the Justice Department, the FBI, the Chase Manhattan bank, and Joseph {?}.
Where the truth is in all this, I do not know. What I do know is that it leaves me more distrustful than ever of the integrity and good sense of the federal government. The whole thing has a bad smell to it.
None of us can exercise perfect wisdom in the conduct of our lives and work. All of us however have a moral responsibility to act with integrity in all things. You may disagree, but I for one would be willing to put up with a fair amount of foolishness in Washington D.C if I were assured that integrity usually prevailed.
There was a time when I had much to do with someone who was, to put it mildly, rather foolish and even stupid. He was, however, strictly honest and always dependable. And as a result, it was easy to overlook a great many other things. It would be a pleasure to feel the same way about our federal government.
Let me repeat what I said earlier. I do not know the truth about Abscam. But I do know that the federal government looks worse than the members of Congress who were forced out of office due to Abscam. We need more integrity and less power in Washington D.C.
This has been R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedom.