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65 Ark. L. Rev. 587 (2012)
The Case for Limiting Federal Criminal Jurisdiction over State and Local Campaign Contributions

handle is hein.journals/arklr65 and id is 603 raw text is: The Case for Limiting Federal Criminal Jurisdiction over State and Local Campaign Contributions Anthony J. Gaughan* I. INTRODUCTION Henry Clay Warmoth, a Reconstruction-era governor of Louisiana, once declared, I don't pretend to be honest. I only pretend to be as honest as anybody in politics.' In twenty-first-century America, wayward politicians may be more discreet than Warmoth, but corruption remains a persistent problem at all levels of government. For evidence, one need look no further than the case of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who in June 2011 was convicted in federal court of attempting to sell a United States Senate seat to the highest bidder.2 The United States Justice Department plays a necessary and important role in prosecuting corruption at all levels of government.3 Abuse of the public trust by corrupt officials undermines the integrity of our democratic institutions. Quite appropriately, therefore, the Federal *Assistant Professor of Law, Drake University Law School; J.D. Harvard University, 2005; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002. 1. RONALD M. LABBf & JONATHAN LURIE, THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE CASES: REGULATION, RECONSTRUCTION, AND THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 71 (2003). 2. Judy Keen, Rod Blagojevich Guilty of 17 Corruption Charges, USA TODAY, June 28, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-27-rod-blagojevich- trial-verdict n.htm. 3. U.S. DEP'T OF JUSTICE, REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS OF THE PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION FOR 2010, at 27-30 & tbls.1 & 2 (2010) [hereinafter 2010 DOJ REPORT], available at http://www.justice.gov/criminal/pin/docs/arpt-2010.pdf . The Public Integrity Section is a division of the Department of Justice that prosecutes public corruption at all levels of government. Public Integrity Section, U.S. DEP'T OF JUSTICE, http://www.justice.gov/criminal/pin (last visited Oct. 11, 2012). 587

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