Thomas Jefferson Quotes

We have seen enough criminality on the part of government. It is hypocritical to make this allegation against me. They have narrowed the public sphere of influence.

As Members of Congress, we should not be using public office for private gain.

If the many allegations made to this date are true, then the burglars who broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate were, in effect, breaking into the home of every citizen.

The American people do not begrudge anyone his or her power until they start abusing it.

I am a relatively new Member to this Chamber, and it is troublesome to me and I can tell Members it is getting very troublesome to my constituents when they hear this repeated consistent drum beat of a corruption of the democratic process.

When a Cabinet Minister who is sacked for telling lies is re-appointed, in the face of every constitutional convention, only for the same man to be sacked again from the same Cabinet for the same offence by the same Prime Minister no wonder the public are cynical about politics.

If the great servants of the public forget their duty, betray their trust and sell their country, or make war against the most valuable rights and privileges of the people; reason and justice require that they should be discarded, and others appointed in their room, without any regard to formal resignations of their forfeited power.

Morality of society has deteriorated so much due to the government's bad policy of selling office positions

I have been told for years by among others, some of my own family, that this is exactly what the Bureau was doing all the time, and in my great wisdom and high office, I assured them that ... it just wasn't true. It couldn't happen. They wouldn't do it .... The trick now ... is for this Committee to be able to figure out how to persuade the people of this country that indeed it did go on. And how shall we insure that is will never happen again?

The problem comes from the lack of transparency and accountability of government.

There will be scandals. There will be scandals. And then maybe we can reform again.

The consequences of turning a blind eye to government corruption go far beyond simply letting some corrupt politicians and bureaucrats walk free.

And because it may be too great a temptation to human frailty, apt to grasp at power, for the same persons, who have the power of making laws, to have also in their hands the power to execute them, whereby they may exempt themselves from obedience to the laws they make, and suit the law, both in its making, and execution, to their own private advantage.

When a secretary of state illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can't see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence, I know that corruption has reached a level like never, ever before in America!

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Why does corruption in government always surprise us? Why do we expect anything else from it? Government is organized force. It takes our wealth and makes war. And we think honest men would do that work?

We have elected officials who say they're going to run for office to serve the people. But in reality, they legislate themselves into wealth. They go into office, and after one, two terms, they're worth millions upon millions of dollars, and that has to stop.

My job is to not take for granted when somebody says, 'Oh, this is all just a made-up, phony scandal,' or, 'What this person did put the U.S. government at risk.'

Right here at home, we have seen what happens when a politician breaks that public trust, when they are dishonest and corrupt.

If you abuse the public trust, we're going to find you, and and we're going to prosecute you.

Abuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we're not vigilant.

The heartbreak of runaway corruption, abuse of power and indefensible criminality by our government and media should, must inspire all good we-the-people Americans to wake the hell up from the embarrassing self-inflicted curse of apathy and start demanding Constitutional accountability from our elected employees.

Corruption is uniquely reprehensible in a democracy because it violates the system's first principle, which we all learned back in the sunshiny days of elementary school: that the government exist to serve the public, not particular companies or individuals or even elected officials.

The reality is I believe there has never been in the history of our White House such an unscrupulous pair as what I witnessed in this White House.

Where annual elections end, there slavery begins ... Humility, patience, and moderation, without which every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.