US House of Representatives Expels Convicted Member

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 25, 2002

US House of Representatives Expels Convicted Member

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night to expel Rep. James Traficant after his conviction on federal corruption charges.

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The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night to expel Rep. James Traficant after his conviction on federal corruption charges.

The House voted by 420-1 to expel the nine-term Ohio Democrat congressman, who has said he is the victim of a vendetta by federal prosecutors.

In an impassioned final speech, Traficant declared, "I'll go tojail before I resign and admit to something I didn't do."

Traficant was convicted of 10 federal bribery and racketeering charges in April, and the House Committee on Standards of OfficialConduct recommended last week that he be kicked out of the congress. He will be sentenced on Tuesday in a federal court in Cleveland.

"No American should fear their government, and this guy doesn't.I'm ready to go," Traficant said in a rambling speech from the House floor.

Traficant is the second representative to be voted out of the congress since the Civil War. In 1980, Rep. Michael Myers, a Pennsylvania Democrat, was thrown out for taking money from undercover FBI agents.

Traficant has long complained that the government has maintained a vendetta against him since he convinced a jury in 1983 to acquit him of bribery charges.

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