Beachgate

This is a list of scandals or controversies whose names include a ''-gate'' suffix, by analogy with the Watergate scandal, as well as other incidents to which the suffix has (often facetiously) been applied. This list also includes controversies that are widely referred to with a ''-gate'' suffix, but may be referred to by another more common name (such as the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, known as "Bountygate"). Use of the ''-gate'' suffix has spread beyond American English to many other countries and languages.

Etymology, usage, and history of ''-gate''

The suffix '' -gate'' derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of US President Richard Nixon. The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., where the burglary giving rise to the scandal took place; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.

The suffix has become productive as a libfix and is used to embellish a noun or name to suggest the existence of a far-reaching scandal, particularly in politics and government. As a CBC News column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and a cover-up".

Such usages have been criticized by some commentators as clichéd and misleading. James Stanyer comments that "revelations are given the 'gate' suffix to add a thin veil of credibility, following 'Watergate', but most bear no resemblance to the painstaking investigation of that particular piece of presidential corruption". Stanyer links the widespread use of ''-gate'' to what the sociologist John Thompson calls "scandal syndrome":

The adoption of ''-gate'' to suggest the existence of a scandal was promoted by William Safire, the conservative ''New York Times'' columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter. As early as September 1974 he wrote of "Vietgate", a proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers. Subsequently, he coined numerous ''-gate'' terms, including ''Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate'' (of which he later said "My best '-gate'' coinagewas the encapsulation of a minor ... scandal as doublebillingsgate"), ''Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate, Koreagate, Lancegate, Maggiegate, Nannygate, Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate'' and ''Whitewatergate''. The ''New York'' magazine suggested that his aim in doing so was "rehabilitating Nixon by relentlessly tarring his successors with the same rhetorical brush – diminished guilt by association". Safire himself later said to author Eric Alterman that he "may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness".

The usage has spread into languages other than English; examples of ''-gate'' being used to refer to local political scandals have been reported from Argentina, Germany, South Korea, Hungary, Greece and the former Yugoslavia. The term is also used in Mandarin Chinese with the suffix ''-mén'' ().

The use of a suffix in this way is not new. ''-mandering'' has long been used as a suffix by a politician's name in analogy with gerrymandering ( "Henry-mandering" was used in 1852). In recent years, the ''-gate'' suffix as a catch-all signifier for scandal has seen some competition from as in "Ballghazi" instead of "Deflategate", or "Bridgeghazi" instead of " Bridgegate". The use of ''-ghazi'' is a play on the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack, which despite numerous official investigations into the possibility of government cover-ups, has resulted in no criminal charges or major repercussions for the individuals supposedly involved. ''-ghazi'' may be seen as carrying an ironic or self-effacing connotation in its usage, implying that the event described has the appearance and media coverage of a scandal, but does not actually amount to much in a grander sense.

Some commentators have characterized this use of the ''-gate'' suffix as a snowclone. But Geoffrey Pullum, the coiner of the term ''snowclone'', considers that it is only a "lexical word-formation analog". Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, said that no one should aspire to write with cliches and that although they do help to get a lot of complicated things across in few words that they are not a good way to get people to keep reading what you're writing.

Similar phenomena

Like the ''-gate'' suffix, the Italian ' suffix emerged in Italian media from investigations in the 1990s that uncovered a system known as '. The term derives from ', which means ' kickback' (e.g., bribery given for public works contracts), and ', meaning 'city'. Examples of snowclone-like use of ' include ' (a financial scandal) and ' (a 2006 Italian football scandal).

Scandals

These scandals have been given the ''-gate'' suffix.

Arts and entertainment

Journalism and academics

Politics

}) , , 2005 , , Political scandal in Latvia that involved several businessmen and politicians offering a bribe to a deputy of Jurmala City Council in an attempt to sway the mayor of Jūrmala 2005 elections. , ,
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, Kazakhgate , , 2005 , , Scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, who paid US$78 million in bribes to high-level Kazakhstani officials to secure the oil contracts for Western companies in the 1990s. , ,
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, Koreagate , , 1976 , , An American scandal involving South Korean influence peddling in the US Congress. This was the first scandal after Watergate to receive the suffix. , ,
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, Leakgate , , 2015 , , An Indian scandal involving the theft and sale of government documents , ,
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, Lettergate , , 2022 , , Then Prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and his government allege that the United States government threatened Pakistan with 'consequences' if the vote of no-confidence were to fail and Khan was to remain in office, and that 'all would be forgiven' if Khan were removed. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield replied to this by saying "there is absolutely no truth to that allegation". , ,
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, Liquorgate
, 2022
, Irrelevant licensing, extensions and inviting private firms and businessmen into liquor sector, shutting away government power and grip over the retail liquor sector in national capital of India, New Delhi.
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, Lunaticgate , , 2016 , , During the 2016 Labour Party leadership election campaign, leadership challenger Owen Smith, in a speech to party members in Hammersmith on August 23, said "What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party", commenting about incumbent Leader Jeremy Corbyn and sparking outrage from many. Though Smith later admitted that he needed to be "slightly less colourful" with his choice of language, he said that his comment was not referring to Corbyn. , ,
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, Mammygate , , 2008 , , Gloria Squitiro, wife of Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser, allegedly called one of her secretaries " mammy". The secretary, Ruth Bates, who is black, sued the city council for discrimination. The case was settled in 2009. , ,
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, Marocgate , , 2022 , , An alleged bribery scandal between Morocco and several members of the European Parliament, consisting of gifts and holidays costing up to offered by Morocco to " obtain votes and defend its claims on Western Sahara". , ,
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, Memogate (2) , , 2011 , , Controversy surrounding an alleged Pakistani memo seeking the help of the Obama administration in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid to prevent a military takeover in Pakistan. , ,
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, Merriongate , , 2021 , , Similar to the Golfgate scandal in 2020, former Minister for Children Katherine Zappone hosted an outdoor gathering on 21 July 2021 for 50 guests, including Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, six days prior to her controversial appointment as an "UN special envoy" which was proposed by Simon Coveney. This resulted in widespread anger among opposition TDs. Ultimately Zappone would decline to take up the envoy role, which subsequently led to a motion of no confidence against Coveney for his handling of the affair. , ,
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, Minkgate , , 2020 , , The slaughter of all mink in Denmark under orders of the prime minister that were later revealed to have no legal basis, leading to snap elections following threats of a no-confidence vote , ,
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, Monicagate, Lewinskygate, Tailgate, or Sexgate ("Zippergate", "the Lewinsky scandal") , , 1990s , , Named after Monica Lewinsky, who had an "inappropriate relationship" with the then-US President Bill Clinton. , ,
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, Muldergate , , 1979 , , South African political scandal in which funds were clandestinely diverted by defence minister Connie Mulder for overseas propaganda in support of the apartheid regime. The scandal brought about the downfall of BJ Vorster. , ,
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, Namagate
, 2015
, A Northern Irish political and financial scandal in which the First Minister of Northern Ireland allegedly stood to benefit from the sale of a portfolio of loans and properties by the National Asset Management Agency.
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, Nannygate (1) , , 1993 , , A political controversy in the United States wherein the nomination of Zoë Baird and near-nomination of Kimba Wood for US Attorney General were withdrawn due to the hiring of illegal aliens as nannies or the failure to pay taxes for them. , ,
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, Nannygate (2) , , 2006 , , Swedish scandal over the non-payment of employment taxes of nannies and obligatory television fees by members of the Reinfeldt cabinet. , ,
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, Nenegate, , 2015 , , A political controversy in South Africa following the firing of Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance by then president Jacob Zuma resulting in large scale capital flight from the country. , ,
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, NISgate , , 2013 , , South Korean National Intelligence Service manipulated public opinion to promote the ruling party and Park Geun-hye. , ,
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, Nkandlagate (1) , , 2009 , , South African political scandal brought to light in 2009 by ''Mail & Guardian'' regarding a multimillion-rand state-funded private home of South African President Jacob Zuma. The story became more sensitive after the release of the public protector Thuli Madonsela's report titled "Secure in comfort". The scandal drove the opposition to initiate impeachment proceedings against Zuma. , ,
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, Nokiagate, , 2022 , , In May 2022, the Dutch state attorney revealed in a courtcase that Prime Minister Mark Rutte daily deleted all the text messages on his archaic Nokia mobile phone, which those he deemed important being forwarded or dictated to civil servants. This was referred to as "real-time archiving". The phone purportedly only had memory space for twenty messages. According to the Council of State, text messages are required by law to be stored to allow officials to be held accountable by the public. Rutte denied withholding information or breaking the law. Experts and opposition parties were critical. A motion of no confidence failed. , ,
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, Nukegate
, 2017
, A political and legal scandal which arose from the abandonment of the Virgil C. Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina by South Carolina Electric & Gas (a subsidiary of SCANA) and the South Carolina Public Service Authority (known as Santee Cooper) in 2017. It was the largest business failure in the history of South Carolina and resulted in criminal charges.
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, Officegate , , 2001 , , First Minister of Scotland Henry McLeish resigned after it was revealed that while he was a Westminster Member of Parliament between 1987 and 1998 (before the advent of devolution), he sublet his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife, but failed to ensure that it was registered or that the party issued funds from the income to the House of Commons. , ,
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, Palmargate , , 2003 , , Minister of Housing and Lands resigned and was arrested twice following bribery allegations regarding the lease of state owned land on the coast line of Mauritius. It involved the use of fake contracts by notaries, lawyers and political intermediaries to extort money from a local businessman. , ,
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, Panamagate , , 2016 , , Ongoing political scandals in several countries, associated with the Panama Papers, a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies listed by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca with an undeclared trust in New Zealand and a company in Panama.

In Pakistan, the Panama Papers case, or ''Panamagate case'', resulted in the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office for 10 years.
, , Multinational scandal, involving several countries. See List of people named in the Panama Papers
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, Pantigate , , 2014 , , Controversy surrounding payments by RTÉ after drag queen and LGBT activist Panti accused some anti-LGBT campaigners of homophobia , ,
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, Pardongate , , 2001 , , Controversy surrounding Bill Clinton's pardons of 140 people on his last day in office as President of the United States, including Patty Hearst , ,
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, Partygate (United Kingdom) , , 2021 , , A political scandal surrounding social gatherings of United Kingdom government and Conservative Party staff that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when there were public health restrictions on such gatherings. Whilst several lockdowns in the country were in place, reported gatherings occurred at 10 Downing Street, its garden, and other government buildings. Starting in December 2021, these attracted substantial media attention, public debate, and controversy. , ,
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, Partygate (Hong Kong) , , 2022 , , A political scandal in Hong Kong involving the birthday party of Witman Hung during the COVID-19 pandemic , ,
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, Pastagate , , 2013 , , Montreal controversy, in which an Italian restaurant was investigated by the Quebec government for using words that do not comply with their language laws, such as "bottiglia", "calamari" and "pasta". , ,
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, Pastygate , , 2012 , , Controversy in March/April 2012 around the taxation by the UK Government of hot snacks such as pasties, where Conservative ministers were said to be out of touch with the eating habits of ordinary people. , ,
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, Pemexgate , , 2000 , , Scandal involving the state-owned oil company Pemex in Mexico in which funds were used to support a political campaign of the presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party. , ,
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, Penelopegate , , 2017 , , Revelation that French presidential candidate François Fillon had officially employed his wife Penelope as an aide while a politician, but that it was a fictitious job which she never worked but nonetheless earned over €1 million in public wages. Known as both "Penelopegate" and ''"l'affaire Fillon"'' (the Fillon affair) in French. , ,
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, Petrogate , , 2008 , , The name given by the press in Peru to the corruption case involving large amounts of oil. Norwegian mining company Discover Petroleum and state-owned Perupetro are involved, which shocks politicians in Peru and prompts the resignation of cabinet ministers. , ,
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, Picklegate , , 2016 , , Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was appearing on the American late night talk show ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. At the time, Donald Trump claimed she was too weak to be president. Kimmel gave her a pickle jar to see if she could open it, which she successfully did. Some viewers questioned the move, claiming that the jar was already open. , ,
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, Piggate , , 2015 , , The name given to the accusation Lord Ashcroft made against British Prime Minister David Cameron, of performing a ritual in which he engaged in sexual acts with a dead pig's head. , ,
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, Plamegate (also "Leakgate", " CIA leak scandal", "Plame affair") , , 2005 , , The revealing, by Robert Novak, of the name of Valerie Plame. Lewis Libby allegedly leaked to the media the identity of a covert CIA agent who worked on WMDs, in retaliation for her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, criticizing George W. Bush's justification for the invasion of Iraq. , ,
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, Ponytailgate , , 2015 , , A young waitress claims Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key pulled at her hair's ponytail numerous times over several months while visiting the café, even after being requested to stop by her and his wife. , ,
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, Popcorngate , , 2021 , , Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing curfew related to the pandemic, Quebec premier François Legault announced that movie theaters would be permitted to open in the province ahead of March break. However, with much of the province in the most restrictive “red” zone, the theaters were not permitted to sell popcorn or other concessions, unless they were located in the lesser restrictive “orange” zone. Legault justified that the move was so that patrons could keep their masks on throughout the entire movie, as a mask mandate had been in place in Quebec since July 18, 2020. The announcement was condemned by other MNAs as well as by movie theater mogul Vincenzo Guzzo (owner of Cinémas Guzzo, a prominent Quebec movie theater chain), who has been active on Twitter throughout the pandemic criticizing the handling of the pandemic by Legault. Quebec then announced that it would compensate movie theaters for the absence of popcorn sales. Guzzo refused the money and would not open his theaters until the end of May, when the curfew was lifted. , ,
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, Porngate , , 2012 , , Three members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in India resign from their offices after accusations that they watched porn during government proceedings. , ,
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, Pussygate , , 2016 , , On October 7, 2016, ''The Washington Post'' released a video and accompanying article about Donald Trump and Billy Bush having "an extremely lewd conversation about women" in 2005. In the video, Trump indicated that he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet during the filming of an episode of ''Access Hollywood''. Trump further asserted that "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything ... grab them by the pussy". , ,
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, Qatargate , , 2022 , , Ongoing political scandal in which politicians, political staffers, lobbyists, civil servants and their families are alleged to have been involved in corruption, money laundering and organised crime involving the state of Qatar in exchange for influence at the European Parliament. Qatar denies the allegations. Law enforcement authorities in Belgium, Italy and Greece seized €1.5 million in cash, confiscated computers and mobile phones, and charged four individuals with the alleged offences. , ,

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, BC Legislature Raids, Railgate (also known as the Basi-Virk Affair and the BC Legislature Raids scandal) , , 2007 , , Scandal and court proceeding involving influence peddling and abuse of privilege in regard to the sale of BC Rail to Canadian National Railways by the government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell (Canadian politician), Gordon Campbell, the raid of government offices in the provincial legislature building on December 28, 2003. , ,
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, Rinkagate , , 1976 , , UK scandal in which Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the Liberal Party (UK), UK Liberal Party, lost his position and his seat in Parliament after being accused of involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to murder an alleged former gay lover. Thorpe was eventually acquitted, but the scandal and an unrelated personal illness ended his career. "Rinka" refers to a Great Dane that was killed in the attack. , ,
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, 2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal, Robogate , , 2011 , , Allegations of widespread voter fraud targeting non-Conservative voters occurring during the 2011 Canadian federal election. Robotic and live calls to voters are claimed to have been made in 200 ridings. Investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party, and Elections Canada. , ,
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, Mueller special counsel investigation, Russiagate , , 2016 , , The controversy and Russia investigation that ensued after the 2016 US presidential election regarding the discovery of myriad secretive links between Trump associates and Russian officials. , ,
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, Rywin affair, Rywingate , , 2002 , , A corruption scandal in Poland, which began in late 2002 while the post-communist government of the Democratic Left Alliance, SLD (Democratic Left Alliance) was in power. It is named after the prominent Polish film producer Lew Rywin, who was a key figure. , ,
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, St Louis gate or Saint Louis gate , , 2020 , , Corruption scandal in Mauritius regarding the award of a contract for the upgrade of an existing diesel power station at St. Louis, on the outskirts of capital city Port Louis. Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) of Denmark was awarded the contract by the Mauritian power-generating entity Central Electricity Board
CEB
following a tender issued in 2014. A whistleblower alerted the financier African Development Bank (ADB) that the award to BWSC occurred after bribes had been received by several CEB employees through an intermediary of BWSC who owns a Mauritian construction company. ADB investigated the claims and thus excluded BWSC from all future work for 21 months. Leader of Opposition Arvin Boolell raised this issue in Parliament and several employees of CEB were stood down. , ,
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, HM Advocate v Salmond, Salmondgate
, 2018
, Scandal involving former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond who had been accused of sexually harassing two female aides in Bute House, Edinburgh. Salmond was eventually acquitted.
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, Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy, Sharpiegate
(distinguish from the identically named #sharpie-conspiracy, conspiracy theory) , , 2019 , , Repeated assertions by US president Donald Trump, falsely claiming that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama, showing a map altered using a Sharpie (marker), black marker pen, and having the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publish statements in support of his claims. , ,
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, Shawinigate , , 1999 , , Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home Electoral district (Canada), riding of Shawinigan, Shawinigan, Quebec , ,
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, Shitholegate , , 2018 , , During a meeting with lawmakers about immigration, President Trump is reported to have asked, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” , ,
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, Sleep-gate
, 2018
, Scottish Conservative Party, Conservative MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (UK Parliament constituency), Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Bill Grant (politician), Bill Grant was twice caught sleeping in the House of Commons. First, in December 2017, Grant appeared to have fallen asleep during a debate on pensions equality for women however, he claimed he was "listening intently". Then, in July 2018, during questions to the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, Grant was again caught asleep but this time admitted that he had taken "a wee nap" and was "guilty as charged".
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, Sofagate
, 2021
, The event when the first female European Commission, EU commission president Von der Leyen Commission, Ursula von der Leyen had to take place on a sofa while Council of the European Union, EU council president Charles Michel and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan were offered seats
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, Sophiegate , , 2001 , , Tape of a conversation between Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Mazher Mahmood. , ,
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, Squidgygate (also known as "Dianagate") , , 1992 , , Tape of a telephone conversation between Diana, Princess of Wales and a male friend. , ,
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, 2020 New York's 22nd congressional district election, Stickygate , , 2020 , , During the recount for the 2020 New York's 22nd congressional district election, sticky notes used by some boards of elections to mark disputed ballots fell off and became attached to other ballots. , ,
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, Stormontgate , , 2005 , , Allegations of a Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring operating in Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland), Stormont (Home to the Northern Ireland Assembly). , ,
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, Strippergate (Seattle), Strippergate (1) , , 2003 , , Two separate government scandals and criminal investigations on the West Coast of the United States, both involving state and local politicians, strip clubs and organized crime. , ,
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, Strippergate (Israel), Strippergate (2)
, 2018
, Yair Netanyahu was secretly filmed at a Tel Aviv strip club, referring to a controversial gas deal signed by Benjamin Netanyahu, his father, the Prime Minister of Israel (see Netanyahu corruption investigations)
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, Maria Bailey, Swinggate
, 2019
, Irish politician Maria Bailey sued a hotel after falling off a swing while holding a drink, at a time when insurance costs were rising due to high levels of personal injury claims.
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, Thulegate , , 1995 , , Danish scandal regarding the storage of nuclear weapons in Greenland in the late 1950s and 1960s, in contravention of Denmark's nuclear-free policy. , ,
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, Mexican presidential expenses controversy, Toallagate , , 2001 , , Scandal in Mexico due to the high cost of bathroom towels (around US$400 apiece) bought for the official residence of the Mexican president. , ,
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, Sunday Herald#Taxigate, Taxigate , , 2005 , , Scottish Conservative Party leader David McLetchie was found to have claimed an excessive amount in taxi expenses (over £11,000) many of which were for party business rather than parliament business. The debacle resulted in McLetchie's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. , ,
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, Telegramgate (also known as Chatgate and RickyLeaks)
, 2019
, Telegramgate is an ongoing political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, the Governor of Puerto Rico, a self-governing United States territory, that began on July 8, 2019, with the leaking of several pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram. The leak came in the midst of allegations by the ex-Secretary of Puerto Rico's Treasury, Raúl Maldonado Gautier, that his department boasted an "institutional mafia" which Rosselló was involved in.
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, Traingate , , 2016 , , Labour Party (UK), Labour Leader of the Labour Party (UK), leader Jeremy Corbyn filmed a short video of him sitting on the floor of a packed UK train on a three-hour journey saying he would not pay to upgrade his ticket to business class saying "after all it is the people's money". A couple of days later, Virgin Trains East Coast released CCTV footage challenging the Labour leader's claim, in which after filming the short video, Corbyn got up and sat in spare seats with his aides. The hashtag "traingate" trended highly on social media with Corbyn responding that he hoped Virgin Trains owner Richard Branson was "well aware" of his plans to re-nationalise the railways. , ,
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, White House travel office controversy, Travelgate , , 1993 , , Controversy surrounding the firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration. , ,
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, Bathabile Dlamini#Fraud Conviction, Travelgate (South Africa) , , 2006 , , A controversy and resulting court case in South Africa involving Bathabile Dlamini and 13 other African National Congress government ministers who pleaded guilty of fraud after claiming travel benefits amounting to R254,000. , ,
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, Troopergate (Bill Clinton), Troopergate (1) , , 1994 , , Allegations by two Arkansas state police, state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton. , ,
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, Eliot Spitzer political surveillance controversy, Troopergate (2) , , 2007 , , Controversy involving New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly ordered the state police to create special records of senate majority leader Joseph Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City. , ,
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, Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal, Troopergate (3) , , 2008 , , The controversy surrounding allegations that Alaska List of Governors of Alaska, Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican Party (United States), Republican vice-presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election, United States presidential election, fired the state's public safety commissioner, allegedly for not cooperating with her demand that he dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. , , Palin uses the term "Taser-gate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a taser on his 10-year-old stepson.
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, Trousergate
, 2016
, Controversy following a photograph taken of the serving UK Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Theresa May in ''The Sunday Times'' in which she was wearing a pair of brown leather trousers, reportedly worth £1000. Former Conservative Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan criticized May for the photo and claimed she had never spent that amount of money on anything except her wedding dress. When Morgan withdrew from her scheduled appearance on ''Have I Got News for You'' on December 16 at short notice, following an ensuing row with an aide to the Prime minister, she was replaced with a leather handbag on the show after it transpired she owned a similar bag costing £950.
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, Tunagate , , 1985 , , Canada political scandal involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna that were sold to the public. , ,
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, Ukrainegate , , 2019 , , A conversation between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which an intelligence analyst who listened in on the conversation filed a whistleblower complaint that Trump was demanding that Ukraine commence an investigation of Hunter Biden (son of Joe Biden, a potential opponent in the 2020 United States presidential election), as well as unofficial clandestine diplomatic efforts by Rudy Giuliani and threats to withhold Congressionally-approved military aid. , ,
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, Utegate , , 2009 , , Australian political incident in June 2009 around the lending of a Ute (vehicle), utility vehicle ("ute") to Australian Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by car dealer John Grant, and subsequent allegations of improper favorable treatment of Grant by the Department of the Treasury (Australia), Treasury department. , ,
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, Valijagate , , 2007 , , Venezuelan-American entrepreneur Guido Antonini Wilson arrived in Argentina on a private flight hired by Argentine and Venezuelan state officials carrying US$800,000 in cash, which he failed to declare. , ,
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, Wampumgate , , 1995 , , Controversy around the 1995 rejection of an Indian gambling project submitted by three impoverished tribes in the American northlands. , ,
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, Watergate scandal, Watergate (United States) , , 1972–1974 , , The original "gate" scandal got its name from the Watergate complex#Office building, Watergate Office Building, where two politically motivated burglaries took place in 1972. The Watergate scandal ultimately led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. , , Updated June 3, 2016.
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, Watergate (Australia), , 2019– , , An ongoing Australian political scandal surrounding an AUD$80 million water buyback in 2017 by the Australian federal government as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority#Murray-Darling Basin Plan, Murray–Darling Basin Plan. The buyback was approved by Barnaby Joyce, and the money went to a private company registered in the Cayman Islands, which was co-founded by Angus Taylor (politician), Angus Taylor. Joyce and Taylor were both government ministers and members of the National Party of Australia, National Party., ,
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, Water Bottle-gate , , 2013 , , A media controversy wherein United States Senator Marco Rubio interrupted his rebuttal to President Obama's state of the union address to grab an offscreen bottle of water and take a drink. , ,
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, Uwe Barschel#"Waterkant-Gate", Waterkantgate (also known as ''Watergate an der Waterkant'') , , 1987 , , A major political scandal in Germany. West German politician Uwe Barschel allegedly issued orders for political rival Björn Engholm to be spied upon, with the aim of bringing tax evasion charges against him; as well as orders to install a bugging device in his own phone to frame Engholm's party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Barschel's guilt was never proven. , ,
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, Anthony Weiner sexting scandals, Weinergate , , 2011 , , US Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account linked to an inappropriate photograph. Weiner claimed that his account had been Hacker (computer security), hacked, but later admitted he sent the tweet; numerous other lewd photographs from Weiner were later revealed. In 2013, after he resigned from the House and attempted to return to politics by running for mayor of New York City, it was revealed that he had been involved in another sexting relationship with a woman in her early twenties. , ,
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, Vacunagate , , 2021 , , 487 people (mainly senior officials of the Executive Power of Peru) were irregularly vaccinated against COVID-19. Among these people were former president Martín Vizcarra and high-ranking officials of the Peruvian government such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elizabeth Astete and the Minister of Health Pilar Mazzetti. , ,
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, 2021–2022 Dutch cabinet formation#Leaking of formation notes, Omtzigtgate, Scoutinggate or Scoutsgate ( nl, Verkenningsgate, Verkennersgate), , 2021 , , In March 2021, Dutch cabinet formation scout Kajsa Ollongren left Parliament in a hurry after learning of her positive COVID-test. A photograph showed her legible notes. It read among other things: "position Omtzigt, position elsewhere" ( nl, positie Omtzigt, functie elders). Pieter Omtzigt is a critical and rebellious MP. Ollongren and her colleague resigned shortly after. Prime Minister and party leader Mark Rutte claimed that he had not discussed Omtzigt. Documents later showed the opposite. Rutte claimed he did not remember ( nl, Ik heb er geen actieve herinnering aan, which became a stock phrase in society). After he said he had been notified of the documents' content hours before the debate and ahead of other leaders, and refused to say by whom, an unsuccessful motion of no confidence was introduced. , ,

Sports

Technology

Other

Conspiracy theories

These conspiracy theories have been given the ''-gate'' suffix by both supporters and critics of them.

In popular culture

These fictional scandals have been given the ''-gate'' suffix by the creators of the artistic work.

Film and television

References

External links

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* Campbell, Alex
Turning a scandal into a '-gate'
''BBC News'', May 11, 2013.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scandals with -gate suffix
Scandals, gate
Snowclones
Politics-related lists
Political terminology of the United States
Scandals in the United States, Gate
English suffixes

fr:Gate#En suffixe