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Traficant: still outrageous and bitter, too
It seemed just like old times.
James A. Traficant Jr. standing at a podium talking about some wild idea — an Indian gambling casino — to save the Mahoning Valley.
And there I was, sitting a few feet from the ex-congressman asking him questions, nearly all of which he ignored.
It was Traficant’s first press conference since his Sept. 2 release from federal prison.
I was disappointed Traficant didn’t bring out some of his classic cliches such as “I have a train to run,” “Get your best hold,” and, of course, “Beam me up.”
But Traficant, prone to outrageous exaggerations, came up with a few of them.
“No one has a better union record than me in history,” he said about a minute into the press conference.
“In history.”
Yeah, OK.
Traficant also stated with strong conviction that local grocery store owner Henry Nemenz “admitted to me that he was pressured to lie before the grand jury” during the ex-congressman’s federal criminal investigation.
[That investigation resulted in Traficant being convicted on all of the 10 felony counts he faced. He served more than seven years in federal prison.]
As a follow-up, I asked Traficant if that meant Nemenz committed perjury.
“No, I’m just saying this, you can follow the case. I’ll make no more comment on it,” he said.
He also claimed The Vindicator never wrote about the matter. But a lengthy article, including a lengthy excerpt about the supposed discussion, was printed in this newspaper March 23, 2002.
When asked about Traficant’s statements, Nemenz said, “I don’t know why he said that. That is not true. I was at the grand jury one time. That’s not true at all. I don’t know where he’s coming at by saying that.”
Traficant was all over the place during his opening statement of about 10 minutes.
He talked about an Indian gambling casino, a potential run for Congress, supporting Kelly Pavlik in Saturday’s middleweight boxing championship bout, the Mahoning Valley getting short-changed on the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package, helping Delphi retirees, urging unions to stop protesting outside Nemenz’s grocery stores and on and on and on.
Traficant said the stimulus package would have never passed without more money for the Valley if he were in Congress.
Back to reality for a moment.
Whether the stimulus bill, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, has benefitted the country is something that can be seriously debated.
But it passed in the U.S. House by a vote of 244 to 188.
If Traficant were still in the House, his vote wouldn’t have been needed to get the bill approved.
Also, during Traficant’s last year in Congress he was the most ineffective member of the House.
He didn’t even serve on a committee.
He was ignored by his fellow House members.
“I didn’t have any friends down there,” Traficant admitted.
His ability to work the corners to obtain federal funding for the Valley was long gone during his last term in Congress.
Traficant said he’s exploring a potential a run for the U.S. House.
He’s looking at three congressional districts, but wouldn’t say which districts. His associates have previously mentioned the 6th and 17th Districts.
The other district is believed to be the 16th, just west of the Valley.
If he somehow were elected, Traficant could expect an even worse reception from other members of Congress thus making him be completely ineffective once again.
Traficant was correct with one statement he made during the press conference.
“As you can see, I’m a bitter man.”