By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Before there was Operation Bid Rig, Save Jerseyans, there was Abscam.
FBI agents, masquerading undercover as Middle Eastern businessmen toting briefcases of cash, pretended to try to purchase favors for a non-existent Arabian sheik from prominent American politicians. New Jersey State Senator and Camden City Mayor Angelo Errichetti was the most prominent/powerful Garden State politician to run afoul of the sting.
He wasn’t alone. The Abscam investigation also brought down Senator Harrison “Pete” Williams (D-NJ), six members of the House of Representatives including Frank Thompson (D-NJ), multiple members of Philly city council, and one federal Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector.
Now the long-awaited Abscam movie directed by Silver Linings Playbook director David O Russell is just months away from release (Errichetti’s dramatized character, played by Actor Jeremy Renner, is renamed “Carmine Polito”); check out the latest trailer:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Cb4SFt7gE
It’s due out in December and is already receiving awards buzz. Amateur historians can check out some of the remaining Abscam documents in the FBI’s digital vault.
