Abscam and Entrapment

The movie American Hustle recalls a sad day in history. U.S. Sen. Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey, six congressmen from different states, the mayor of Camden (who was also a state senator) and other public officials were convicted of taking bribes to use their political offices to help fictitious Arab sheiks obtain licenses, permits and favored positions. Abscam was the first FBI sting operation known to the general public.

Viewers of the film may wonder why the defendants weren’t acquitted on the basis of entrapment. After all, the character playing the Camden mayor was chased by the con man working with the FBI for not taking a briefcase full of cash, and encouraged to take it. As the line on the screen announces when the movie opens, only “part of the story” is true. Nevertheless, during the real Abscam, many asked the same question. Williams was convicted in 1981. He was censured and resigned before an expulsion vote. Congressman Frank Thompson, a long-term incumbent from Trenton, lost reelection and resigned in December 1980. Both had been sentenced to three-year prison terms and served two years in federal custody.