Former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH), who was released from prison last week after serving seven years for corruption charges, was greeted in Youngstown, Ohio, Sunday night by 1,200 supporters, including an Elvis impersonator, polka band and those vying for best Traficant look-alike.
Traficant reportedly reveled in the spotlight. He told the crowd the federal government “had to cheat” to convict him, he railed against the IRS, FBI and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and he promised to make “some significant statements” in an interview on Fox this Friday.
He even paraphrased Nelson Mandela, saying, “If you want to know the true nature of a country, you must go through its prisons. I know America. I’ve seen the other side of it, and I don’t like it.”
Fans, who had paid $20 a pop, chanted “Run for Senate!” and swarmed the stage, vying for Traficant’s autograph.
Traficant was convicted in 2002 of 10 felony charges including racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, after he demanded kickbacks from his staff and failed to pay taxes, among other things. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and ousted from the House in a vote of 420 to one.
But that made no difference to supporters, as Traficant promised to fight for local workers who lost their pensions and health insurance, a retired autoworker who lived in Ohio and now faces trial in Germany for being a Nazi concentration camp guard, and a Nigerian national Traficant met in prison who refused to testify against him and was deported. Traficant is auctioning off three paintings he did in prison — of a horse, Elvis and Betty Boop — to help the local workers.
