The nation’s attention is transfixed on the Manhattan district attorney who ushered in a slew of criminal charges against Donald Trump. Four decades ago, another New York politician embroiled in criminal allegations captured public attention.
Fred Richmond was a workhorse in New York City Democratic politics. Starting in the late 1950s, he served as an official in the Democratic National Committee, attended the 1964 Democratic National Convention as a delegate, and served on the New York City Council. In 1974, Richmond was elected to the US House of Representatives from the 14th congressional district representing Brooklyn.
It was 1977, early in Richmond’s second term in Congress, when he solicited sex from a sixteen-year-old boy he brought home. The boy’s parents learned of the encounter and immediately notified authorities. In February 1978, Richmond brought another young man home and offered him money in exchange for sex. That second person was an undercover police officer.[i]
Richmond’s attorney reached a plea deal with prosecutors. They would drop the charges if Richmond, the divorced father of one son, attended a first-time-offender rehabilitation program.
Richmond faced a Democratic primary challenge in September 1978. Bernard Gifford, a doctor of biophysics and former deputy chancellor of New York City schools, campaigned hard against Richmond. Gifford, who was black, made Richmond’s solicitation of sex from a sixteen-year-old black male a cornerstone of his campaign by calling Richmond a “sick man” in desperate need of psychiatric care.[ii]
Richmond enjoyed support among the 14th congressional district’s affluent liberals and Hasidic Jews, while Gifford was backed by the district’s black and Hispanic communities. Richmond was the wealthiest member of the US House. The vastly outspent Gifford campaign fell short as Richmond cruised to victory in the Democratic primary.
In late 1981, a takeover battle of a St. Louis, Missouri, steel manufacturer by a New York-based manufacturer of steel and plastics revealed that Richmond was earning an outside salary in direct violation of House rules. The House limited earning outside income to no more than 15 percent of congressional salaries. There were exceptions such as book royalties and retirement pay.
Richmond had announced his retirement from Walco National Corporation in 1978 in order to avoid running afoul of the then newly implemented House ethics rules limiting outside income. The hostile acquisition involving Walco National landed in federal court, where it was learned Richmond faked his retirement in order to continue running Walco. The $100,000 Richmond was receiving annually was not retirement pay, but was instead his employment salary.[iii]
The arrangement also gave Richmond access to company resources and a company-subsidized apartment to further his political ambitions. Additionally, the courtroom judge criticized Richmond’s use of money from a charitable foundation for political purposes.
The judge learned that Walco National filed false documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that concealed the true relationship between the firm and Richmond.[iv] The judge also reported that Richmond had secretly arranged a personal loan to an editor of the New York Daily News and then paid off the loan when the editor defaulted. The newspaper suspended the editor, pending an investigation.[v]
There was even more bad news for Richmond. Walco National employees were planning campaign activities and managing fundraising events for Richmond while on company time. This was an apparent violation of campaign laws. Richmond’s campaign officials countered that only volunteers were assisting the campaign and only on their own time, but admitted they were using Walco National offices. However, Richmond’s financial disclosures did not show any payments to Walco National for the use of offices, as required by election law.[vi]
It was further learned that Richmond had full use of a company-owned, chauffeur-driven automobile, and Walco National paid nearly $350,000 over a four-year period for the maintenance and upkeep of a multimillion-dollar apartment owned by Richmond. None of this was disclosed in Richmond’s ethics disclosures or campaign filings.[vii]
Thousands of dollars in contributions to Richmond’s reelection campaign had come from straw donors, it was reported. Several people were given cash in exchange for writing personal checks, oftentimes with the payee name left blank. Those checks were later cashed by the Richmond campaign. Most of the checks came from employees or subcontractors of a Brooklyn shipyard operator who received millions of dollars in government contracts, often with the assistance of Richmond.[viii]
By the spring, a federal grand jury was hearing from prosecutors and witnesses regarding Richmond and his activities. Among the new allegations was that, in 1981, Richmond helped get a job for an escaped prison convict in the House of Representatives. The fugitive was arrested in Manhattan after offering to perform a sex act on an undercover police officer in exchange for money. He was driving Richmond’s personal car at the time of his arrest.[ix]
Richmond faced an avalanche of criminal, ethics, and misbehavior charges. Among these was the allegation that as many as nine current and former congressional staffers had purchased marijuana and cocaine on Richmond’s behalf.[x]
Richmond was facing so many criminal allegations that one newspaper writer called him a “one man crime wave.”[xi] On August 25, 1982, Richmond resigned from Congress and pled guilty to three criminal charges, including tax evasion and possession of marijuana. Eight other charges, including possession of cocaine and aiding an escaped felon, were dropped in return for Richmond’s promise to never again run for political office.[xii]
In 2009, a letter to the judge who sentenced Richmond was made public for the first time. Richmond’s congressional chief of staff, Bill Thompson, pleaded with the judge not to impose a prison sentence on Richmond. The humiliation Richmond suffered from getting caught was punishment enough, wrote Thompson.
The letter became public just as Thompson was challenging Michael Bloomberg, who was running for reelection as New York City mayor. Demonstrating no loyalty in return, Richmond dismissed Thompson’s candidacy and endorsed Bloomberg for reelection.[xiii]
Mark Hyman is an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, Parler, Post, and Mastodon.world at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.
His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).
[i] Lee Byrd, Associated Press, April 6, 1978.
[ii] Lawrence Martin, “Morals Issue in Brooklyn Primary Congressman Sheds ‘Sick Man’ Tag,” Globe and Mail, September 11, 1978.
[iii] “Rule Congressman Faked Retirement for Big Pension,” Associated Press, December 6, 1981.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] “Report Newspaper Editor Got Financial Help from Congressman,” Associated Press, December 6, 1981.
[vi] Josh Barbanel, “Rep. Richmond is Contradicted on Political Aid,” New York Times, December 11, 1981.
[vii] Josh Barbanel, “Court Depicts Rep. Richmond in Potential Conflicts,” New York Times, December 17, 1981.
[viii] Ralph Blumenthal, “Lawmaker’s Funds Clouded by Flaws,” New York Times, January 18, 1982.
[ix] Dan Collins, “Rep. Fred Richmond: ‘A One-Man Crime Wave,’” Associated Press, August 18, 1982.
[x] Michael Reese, Susan Agrest, and Elaine Shannon, “A Very Troubled Congressman,” Newsweek, April 19, 1982.
[xi] Collins, “Rep. Fred Richmond….”
[xii] Judie Glave, Associated Press, August 25, 1982.
[xiii] Maggie Haberman, “Bill’s Plea for Crooked Pol—’82 Letter Begs Judge to Spare His Old Corrupt, Druggie Boss,” New York Post, October 19, 2009.