The Bribery and Special Interest (BRISPEC) sting operation was a sting operation conducted by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

that investigated corruption in the California State Legislature from 1986 to 1988. The operation, later known as Shrimpscam in the press, involved setting up dummy companies by the FBI. The FBI set up a

West Sacramento West Sacramento (also known as West Sac) is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. The city is separated from Sacramento by the Sacramento River, which also separates Sacramento and Yolo counties. It is a fast-growing community; the ...

-based shrimp processing company. Then the fake companies lobbied for special-interest legislative bills favoring themselves. In addition, money was offered to legislators to see if any of them could be bribed in return for their support. A couple of the bills were actually passed by both the Assembly and Senate, but were

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also served ...

, who was tipped off in advance. The operation resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of 12 public officials, among them were five state elected officials, including Board of Equalization Member Paul B. Carpenter (D), State Senators Joseph B. Montoya (D),

Alan Robbins Alan Robbins (born February 5, 1943) is a former American politician in the state of California. Robbins is most noted for his arrest and conviction on racketeering charges and serving five years in a federal prison.Jacobs, Paul, and Gladstone, Ma ...

(D), and Frank C. Hill (R), and Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R). In addition, Coastal Commissioner Mark L. Nathanson, insurance lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson and several legislative aides were also convicted in connection with the operation.

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Willie Brown (D) and Assemblymember Gwen Moore (D) were also targeted by the operation, but emerged unscathed. Brown had a $1,000 campaign contribution shoved under his door returned to the donor. As a former member of the National Guard, this has led to accusations over the years that Brown was a federal informant and used his influence with the FBI to target his political opponents with process crime entrapment. Moore's office was raided as part of the sting operation, but she was eventually acquitted of any wrongdoing. Nolan was eventually pardoned by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

on May 15, 2019.

References

External links

* {{US federal public corruption law Political corruption investigations in the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation operations Political scandals in California California State Legislature