Sex Scandals and Politics

The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, was was accused of having an affair with porn star and actress Stormy Daniels in 2006, when he was already married to Melania Trump. The news no doubt caused an avalanche of comments and debate over Trump’s personal life in mass media, but this was not the first such case in history.

The most prominent sex scandal in politics in the last 20 years is, of course, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. The scandal involved then-President of the US Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky, who was half the president’s age. It was a huge scandal! As a result, Bill Clinton was impeached in December 1998, fined $90,000 and his license to practice law was suspended for 5 years, but his marriage with Hillary survived.

Former French President Francois Hollande wasn’t officially married to his longstanding partner Segolene Royal, with whom he has four children, when he left her for his new true love Valerie Trierweiler. Unlike the other cases, this was a peaceful break-up.

Moshe Katsav, who served as Israeli president from 2000 to 2007, found himself in a less pleasant situation. In summer 2006, he was accused of raping an employee of his. This news had a bombshell effect. During fall, several different women testified against Katsav and the allegations included "breach of trust, fraud, and involvement in illegal wiretapping.” As a result of the scandal, Katsav was in 2011 sentenced to 7 years in prison and two years' probation for rape, indecent acts, sexual harassment and obstruction of justice.

In April 2017, former Hollywood star and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted that he had a secret love affair with his housekeeper for 14 years. The confession to a popular magazine cost Arnie his 25 year-long marriage to Maria Shriver.

In June 2013, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, was found guilty of paying for sex with an underage Moroccan prostitute Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer in a nightclub. The former prime minister was sentenced to seven years behind bars and a ban from public office.

Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner on June 16, 2011 announced his resignation from Congress amid a growing scandal over his lewd online communications with an underage girl.

Disgraced ex-IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyer on November 25, 2011, suggested that a political plot could have been behind the sex assault charges that brought down his client. Strauss-Kahn was accused by a 32-year-old maid at the Sofitel New York Hotel, who claimed he had sexually assaulted her. The media reaction was harsh. As a result, Strauss-Kahn left his post as IMF head. However, on 23 August 2011, all charges against Strauss-Kahn were dropped.

In 1997, Ex-Zimbabwean President Canaan Sodindo Banana was arrested on charges of eleven counts of sodomy and sexual assault. In 1999 he was sentenced to ten years in jail.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (C) was arrested in 2008 over allegations that he sodomized one of his male aides. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison.