Politician Misconduct That Was Caught On Camera

When one is a politician in a democratic system, image is everything. Politicians go to incredible lengths to hide their pasts, positively spin questionable incidents, and straight up deny their worst moments — even when the denial is an obvious lie. One might even say that lying is part of the job description. NewsNation host Dan Abrams lamented this tendency of politicians (in his case, Lauren Boebert) to deny till they die in an op-ed. That is, until incontrovertible video or photo evidence comes out that proves otherwise. And even when they come clean, the "apologies," if any, are half-hearted.

The reality is that politicians engage in misconduct all the time. Granted, misconduct is a term that can run the gamut from embarrassing but relatively innocuous incidents, such as Boebert being disruptive at a theater, to more serious instances of fights between politicians, or even borderline-criminal groping and usage of hard drugs. Today, because of smartphones, this misbehavior is much harder to hide, and it has become easier to hold politicians accountable. Here are some politicians who got caught misbehaving and were caught red-handed.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert landed in hot water after she and her date, Quinn Gallagher, were removed from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' rendition of "Beetlejuice" for "not adhering to guest policies," according to a statement from the theater cited by CBS News.

The Republican congresswoman said in a tweet that she was guilty of "laughing and singing too loud," while denying she had vaped on the premises. Later, however, when full surveillance footage of the congresswoman and her date at their seats emerged, which did show her vaping near a pregnant woman, she issued an apology. She said that she "genuinely did not recall vaping" and added she was "truly sorry for the unwanted attention [her] Sunday evening in Denver [had] brought to the community." Boebert confessed to falling "short of her values" and cited her ongoing divorce from her estranged husband Jayson. The latter defended her and begged people to have "grace and mercy."

In addition to disruptive behavior, it was alleged, according to Newsweek, that Boebert and her date had engaged in indecent, intimate fondling inside the theater. The Denver district attorney, however, said through a spokesman that Boebert will not be facing any charges. Matthew Hand, a Denver criminal defense attorney, told the outlet that it would be difficult to convict Boebert on these grounds because of the vagueness of public indecency laws. In Boebert's case, since the alleged fondling would not be "likely to be observed by others," it probably would not meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" threshold needed for a conviction.

Politicians are arrested for DUI fairly frequently, but it is not always that the full footage goes public. On the night of December 26, 2019, drivers on Michigan's I-75 reported that a car had driven onto the shoulder and hit the guardrail, according to footage obtained by ABC News. Police from nearby Auburn Hills arrived, where they found Michigan State Sen. Rebekah Warren. They administered a field sobriety test, which Warren failed after she was unable to walk in a straight line. When she refused the breathalyzer, they arrested her.

Despite being clearly inebriated and in no state to drive, Warren doubled down. According to footage taken from inside the police car, she appeared to ask for a reprieve based on her political office. The footage recorded her saying, "You [the police] don't understand, I'm elected. I'm a senator. People will be, like, 'The senator got arrested ... It's going to be, like, the senator from Ann Arbor's career is over. This is like career-ending for me."

Warren eventually pleaded guilty to reduced misdemeanor charges in return for one year of probation and community service, avoiding the harsher penalties of the state's "super drunk law" (driving with a BAC of >.17). Under that law, she would have faced up to 6 months in prison, driver's license suspension, and community service. She also issued an apology, saying she took "full responsibility for [her] actions" and called the incident "a stupid mistake." Warren's career in the state senate did end, but because of term limits rather than her DUI.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had no shortage of gaffes and scandals. Most famous were the so-called "bunga-bunga" sex parties, for which the former PM allegedly would hire escorts, some of whom were underage. He beat that rap in February 2023 and it does not appear any footage of these parties was ever captured (probably for the best). That said, there were other instances in which the ex-prime minister was caught in less-than-ideal situations (not that he cared).

His most recent viral misbehavior before his June 2023 death involved sex (shocker!) and soccer players. In December 2022, Berlusconi was speaking to the staff and players of the Italian soccer club Monza, which he owned, at the team Christmas party. In the video (translation provided by Politico), Berlusconi told the party that new coach Raffaele Palladino would whip the team into winning shape, but offered an additional incentive to the players to beat top teams – specifically Juventus and his old club AC Milan. He would ship a "busload of wh***s" to the team locker room for every win against a Serie A top team.

The party guests all cheered the ex-PM and laughed, while Italian female politicians lambasted him. Berlusconi responded on Twitter, saying he did not think a "simple locker room joke" would have drawn such a harsh response. He did not apologize, unsurprising for someone who appeared to unrepentantly check out Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's behind at the 2011 EU Summit.

On July 13, 2023, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was giving a speech to parliament about escalating tensions in the Serb-dominated regions of northern Kosovo. As Politico reported, citing local media, Serb residents had boycotted local elections, leading to the victories of ethnically Albanian candidates. Kurti's speech was discussing proposals on how to calm tensions before they exploded into another episode of Balkan interethnic violence.

The Kosovar opposition, however, blamed Kurti's policies for the clashes. As he was speaking, members of the opposition held up a picture of Kurti with a Pinocchio nose, implying he was a liar. When Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi ripped it up, Democratic Party of Kosovo MP Mergim Lushtaku splashed him and Kurti in their faces with a water bottle.

In the video, Bislimi appears to take the bottle and throw it back at Lushtaku, who responds by attempting to attack both the PM and deputy PM. A female MP or staffer attempts to separate them as other members rush into the fight, turning it into an all-out brawl. As punches fly, one MP appears to get hit in the face. Police had to be called in to escort the prime minister out before things got too violent. As it turned out, such tactics were not uncommon, notably in 2018 when members of the opposition Lëvizja Vetëvendosje Party set off tear gas in the chamber to block a treaty resolving Kosovo's border disputes with Montenegro.

Alabama Republican State Sen. Charles Bishop was in a discussion with colleagues during a break in proceedings, including with Democrat State Sen. Lowell Barron, according to video footage from 2007. At one point, Bishop punched Barron in the head as colleagues and security rushed to restrain him and separate the two before it escalated into a larger fight. The video itself did not give much information about the cause of the punch, but it turned out that Bishop considered it a matter of honor.

Bishop claimed that Barron had referred to him as a "son of a b****" to his face. The senator took it as an insult toward his mother. "I was raised in the woods of Arkansas and people don't say that about your mom," he said, according to WTHR. After the incident, the state senate weighed censuring Bishop and banning him from the day's remaining proceedings for his actions, but he left of his own accord.

Bishop later issued a statement expressing regret for his actions, saying "that's not the way grown men solve their problems." He did not, however, apologize to Barron for hitting him, suggesting that he felt his action was at least somewhat justified. Barron denied ever insulting Bishop or his mother, claiming that Bishop had actually sworn at him and attacked him while he was trying to leave the conversation. Fellow state senators said that regardless of who was at fault, it was a disgrace, with Republican Sen. Jay Love calling it "a black eye on the Legislature and the Senate in particular."

In November 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California businesses such as gyms, restaurants, and churches to cease indoor operations due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurants in most places were allowed to continue outdoor dining with social distancing and masking, per U.S. News & World Report, although some places such as Los Angeles County put temporary bans on that, too.

But it was revealed that on November 6, Gov. Newsom had attended a birthday party for a friend and medical lobbyist at a Napa restaurant called the French Laundry, in violation of his own rules. According to Fox 11-Los Angeles, Newsom claimed that the dinner had been outdoors with proper precautionary measures. The outlet, however, then broke exclusive photos that not only had the dinner been indoors, contrary to Newsom's claims, there also had not been any masking or social distancing.

The photos led to a massive fallout for a number of reasons. First of all, there were several California Medical Association lobbyists – representatives of an organization that had pushed hard for universal masking – violating the very rules they had advocated for. Then there was Newsom, who became a "national symbol of do as I say, not as I do." To make matters worse, Newsom laughed and smiled his way through his apology video, which one business owner told U.S. News & World Report was "pathetic." Following the incident, some California businesses began openly defying COVID rules as people lost trust in both Newsom and the health authorities. The incident also fueled a recall effort spearheaded by talk show host Larry Elder, which Newsom survived comfortably.

Ex-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford ran as a populist and swept into office with 47% of the vote in 2010. In 2013, however, he became embroiled in a hard drug scandal after rumors surfaced that there existed a video of him smoking crack with drug dealers. Ford initially denied smoking crack, adding that he had never seen the purported video – if it even existed.

Eventually, police seized the video in question during a raid against drug gangs, and former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair then confirmed the video's existence to journalists. (The Guardian would eventually release the full version of the video in 2016.) Ford was forced to backpedal and apologize, saying that he tried crack in a "drunken stupor" but was not addicted to the drug.

After apologizing, Ford entered the 2014 Toronto mayoral race, despite his admission to using drugs. That year, a second video surfaced that showed him smoking an unidentified substance, according to the Canadian Globe and Mail, which reportedly obtained the clip from one of the drug dealers who had shot the footage. Following the publication of this second video, Ford quit the campaign trail to go into drug rehab. John Tory replaced him as mayor after defeating Rob's brother Doug in the 2014 election with 40% of the vote.

Al Franken represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate after a career as a comedian and political activist. Before going to Washington, he had been part of "Saturday Night Live," per NBC. In 2017, however, his political career ended after he was hit with groping allegations at the height of the #MeToo movement – a phenomenon he had supported only weeks before.

Radio host and commentator Leeann Tweeden hit Franken with two allegations. The first was that he had forcibly and aggressively kissed her. Tweeden said that as they were rehearsing a 2006 USO skit for army personnel that involved them kissing, "he came at [her], put his hand on the back of [her] head, mashed his lips against [hers] and aggressively stuck his tongue in [her] mouth" – more than was necessary for their scene.

The second allegation was that Franken groped Tweeden's breasts while she slept. The radio host produced a photo showing Franken appearing to do exactly that, giving this allegation a lot of weight. The senator responded, saying it was "disgusting" and "completely inappropriate ... [It was] obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture." Responses from fellow politicians varied. Washington Democrat Patricia Murray called for an ethics investigation into Franken's behavior while acknowledging his apology. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was much less forgiving, calling the incident "unacceptable and deeply disturbing." Finally, there was then-President Donald Trump, who dubbed Franken "Al Frankenstein." Franken resigned shortly after additional allegations from seven other women surfaced, but later said he regretted doing so.

Former House of Lords Peer John Sewel resigned his position in July 2015 after tabloids obtained footage that appeared to show him using drugs with escorts at a party in his London apartment. In the video, Sewell appeared to be inhaling a white powder (presumably cocaine) through rolled-up banknotes while wearing an orange bra. All this occurred at a sex party with a handful of escorts whose services allegedly cost £200 per night, according to The Telegraph.

Several factors worsened the scandal. First, Sewel, a married man, did not bother to remove his ring during the party. Second, he was a distinguished life member of the House of Lords and a respected academic, having served as senior vice-principal at the University of Aberdeen. He was also the chair of committees in the House of Lords and in charge of enforcing its standards and code of conduct. He had even written an op-ed in the Huffington Post weeks earlier celebrating how the upper chamber would finally be able to expel members for breaches of conduct. One of the conditions of serving in the House of Lords was to "sign a declaration to obey the code and the seven principles of public life," one of which required officials to "challenge poor behavior."

In the end, Sewel, who had been appointed a peer for life, was challenged for his poor behavior with an internal investigation by the House of Lords and another from law enforcement. He ended up taking a leave of absence and then resigned from his position.