Skip to content

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Because no one
is above the law!

Donate

Corruption Chronicles

Alcee Hastings Ranks No.1 In Nepotism

A Florida congressman impeached as a federal judge and currently under House Ethics Committee scrutiny has earned yet another recognition for his transgressions, this time nepotism.

Alcee Hastings, one of only six federal judges to be removed from the bench, is in a class of his own when it comes to nepotism. This month he was ranked No. 1 out of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives for paying salaries and fees to family members. The sordid details are included in a government watchdog’s study of how members of Congress abuse their position to benefit themselves and their families.

The results were neatly packaged in a 300-plus-page report, titled “Family Affair.” Virtually every member of the House is mentioned and Hastings, who made Judicial Watch’s 2011 Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians list, leads the pack for paying his girlfriend/deputy district director more than half a million dollars in salary and other expenses from 2007 to 2010.

Hasting’s girlfriend, Patricia Williams, draws a generous six-figure salary from his congressional office and gets reimbursed for “travel and event expenses,” according to the report. The ten-term congressman, who serves on several powerful committees, also owes his gal pal, who is a lawyer, up to $1 million for defending him during his impeachment trial.

Under House rules, members aren’t supposed to hire family but Hastings says that doesn’t apply to him because he’s not legally married to Williams and he’s not related to her. Therefore, the report is “inaccurate,” Hastings told a local newspaper in his south Florida district. “I have never had any family members employed in my Congressional office,” he said, stressing an official dictionary definition of “family” to include spouses and blood relatives but not girlfriends.

The veteran Democrat lawmaker, who got impeached as a judge after being embroiled in a bribery scandal, has quite a history mixing work with romance. In fact, last spring Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Hastings on behalf of a female employee (Winsome Packer) who was repeatedly subjected to “unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome touching” and retaliation when he chaired the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, led to a House Ethics Committee probe as well.

 


Related

HUGE Election Lawsuit Victory

Historic Judicial Watch Victory: Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Counting of Ballots Received after Election Day Records Confirm Agent on Harris Secret Service Detail Broke int...

Judicial Watch: Records Confirm Agent on Harris Secret Service Detail Broke into Massachusetts Hair…

Press Releases | November 01, 2024
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it uncovered 62 pages of records from the Department of Homeland Security thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit wh...

Mass Migration Ignites U.S. Tuberculosis Resurgence, Foreigners Account for 76% of Last Year’s Cases

Corruption Chronicles | October 31, 2024
Besides compromising the safety of Americans by releasing over half a million illegal immigrants with criminal records in communities throughout the United States, the Biden admini...