Politicians are often elected to serve their people and the constitution, but in reality, it’s rarely the case. Most politicians are tempted to gain office for the sake of attaining political power and increasing their bank balance.
Putting their own personal benefit over that of the state is considered a serious crime that can cost a politician their office. Last week the FBI was tipped off that Philadelphia congressman Bob Brady may have bribed his foe to back out of the election campaign in 2012, clearing his path to winning the race.
Brady is now being investigated for payments that went to his main opponent
A Secret Transaction
In 2012, the Democratic Congressional Primary was bribed by his opponent and current Philadelphia congressman into dropping out of the race. The political challenger’s former aide admitted that she was involved in striking a deal with the congressman and funneling a hefty sum of money into her former boss’ bank account in return for his resignation.
The FBI source said that Brady had paid his opponent $90,000.
On Tuesday, the federal prosecutor announced that they had officially received a warrant to check Bob Brady’s email accounts to find any evidence to prove the alleged bribery. The former aide who informed the FBI of the secret transaction said that Brady had paid his opponent $90,000.
After the case was made public, reporters dug deep to find the identity of the opponent who had been paid off by the congressman to help him win. A news report later revealed that the 2012 primary opponent involved in the bribery scandal was the former Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore.
The Issue of False Witness
During the federal investigation, the congressman influenced the former mayor of Philadelphia into giving a false witness account to clear his name from the allegation. Unfortunately, the tactic backfired when the federal prosecutors found out about the congressman’s efforts to derail the investigation and matters soon got worse.
The court filings were recently made public after the former political aide to Brady’s opponent, whose identity was revealed as Carolyn Cavaness, admitted to having been involved in the federal crime. Moore admitted that she not only accepted the bribe from the congressman, but also helped her former boss conceal the crime from the authorities.
In 2012, Brady had already represented the Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District for nearly 20 years
As the FBI probes further into the case, Moore and Brady are yet to be charged with a criminal offense. Brady is one of the longest serving representative of his state and Philadelphia Democratic City Committee chairman for more than 40 years. During the 2012 elections, the congressman had represented the Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District for nearly 20 years – he had a lot of pressure from his party to win the elections and he was prepared to pay any price for it.
Moore’s Political Aide Speaks Up
During the court hearing, Carolyn Cavaness explicitly described how the exchange of money took place between the two contenders in 2012. According to her plea, she had been instructed by Moore to create a secret company to receive the $90,000 from Brady’s political campaign as funding.
The money was later used to pay of Moore’s political debts. Two more consultants were involved in concealing the crime by providing false justification for the payment made by Brady. The congressman under scrutiny has denied all allegations against him, claiming that if his campaign did pay out any money to former political opponent during the 2012 election, they did it behind his back and that he was not aware of the situation until five years later when the case was made.
Congressman Maintains his Innocence
The case against Cavaness was kept secret from the public to prevent any intervention from Brady or Moore. The former political aide’s lawyer made a public statement saying that his client had confessed to her role in the crime and that she would not be making any comments about the case. Brady’s lawyer has also made a statement saying that the congressman has been fully cooperating with the federal investigators because he is confident that he has done nothing wrong.
