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Has the United States ever convicted someone on the level of National Security Advisor (i.e., effectively a member of the cabinet, such as Secretary of Defense)

Has the United States ever convicted someone on the level of National Security Advisor (i.e., effectively a member of the cabinet, such as Secretary of Defense), or even put them on trial? Petraeus got a slap on the wrist, but for actions while he was a General. In other countries, even the heads of state get put on trial. Off the top of my head, it's happened relatively recently in France and Israel. In the U.S., I can't think of even a member of the cabinet being tried; on the order of 1 federal judge has ever been impeached. Nixon was pardoned, for example. Someone mentioned 5 people were granted immunity for the Clinton investigation; were any of the 5 at such a high level? Has someone on that level ever been given immunity or needed it?

yeukhon 10y ago
Some countries I know have laws written that immunity is given to the head of the state from juridical conviction until the term is over, but the Congress would have the power to impeach.
opo 10y ago
>...In the U.S., I can't think of even a member of the cabinet being tried; It will be hard to beat the Nixon administration for convictions: 2 attorney generals, chief of staff, 2 white house counsels, undersecretary of transportation, secretary to the president, special counsel to the president, secretary of commerce and the vice president! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_polit...
- hackuser 10y ago
  Hey, that's a great page that I never imagined existed. I stand corrected; plenty of Cabinet secretaries were convicted, as well as 8 federal judges in 30 years (and therefore I assume many more in history). Still, only one VP (Agnew, which I should have remembered) and of course no Presidents. Thanks.
- shshhdhs 10y ago
  The undersecretary that you mentioned is now The "Senior Fellow on Ethics and Leadership at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and Counselor to the Director at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership." [1] Receiving a senior fellowship in Ethics is quite the turnaround from six months in prison. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egil_Krogh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egil_Krogh
a3n 10y ago
Nixon's VP, Spiro Agnew, received a $10K fine and 3 years probation after pleading no contest to tax evasion from accepting bribes. IANAL, don't know if that counts as "conviction." He was disbarred for his plea of no contest.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > don't know if that counts as "conviction." It does according to the standard I intended, FWIW. I don't think you can be sentenced if you aren't found guilty.
maxerickson 10y ago
Iran-Contra was a pretty high level scandal. And Bill Clinton was put on trial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Impeachment is not a trial.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    Okay, but Clinton was subsequently tried in the Senate, as mentioned on that page: Clinton was subsequently acquitted of these charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999.

yeukhon 10y ago

Some countries I know have laws written that immunity is given to the head of the state from juridical conviction until the term is over, but the Congress would have the power to impeach.

opo 10y ago

>...In the U.S., I can't think of even a member of the cabinet being tried; It will be hard to beat the Nixon administration for convictions: 2 attorney generals, chief of staff, 2 white house counsels, undersecretary of transportation, secretary to the president, special counsel to the president, secretary of commerce and the vice president! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_polit...

hackuser 10y ago
Hey, that's a great page that I never imagined existed. I stand corrected; plenty of Cabinet secretaries were convicted, as well as 8 federal judges in 30 years (and therefore I assume many more in history). Still, only one VP (Agnew, which I should have remembered) and of course no Presidents. Thanks.
shshhdhs 10y ago
The undersecretary that you mentioned is now The "Senior Fellow on Ethics and Leadership at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and Counselor to the Director at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership." [1] Receiving a senior fellowship in Ethics is quite the turnaround from six months in prison. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egil_Krogh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egil_Krogh

a3n 10y ago

Nixon's VP, Spiro Agnew, received a $10K fine and 3 years probation after pleading no contest to tax evasion from accepting bribes. IANAL, don't know if that counts as "conviction." He was disbarred for his plea of no contest.

hackuser 10y ago
> don't know if that counts as "conviction." It does according to the standard I intended, FWIW. I don't think you can be sentenced if you aren't found guilty.

maxerickson 10y ago

Iran-Contra was a pretty high level scandal. And Bill Clinton was put on trial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton

dogma1138 10y ago
Impeachment is not a trial.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  Okay, but Clinton was subsequently tried in the Senate, as mentioned on that page: Clinton was subsequently acquitted of these charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999.