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American Hustle Is a Movie About Abscam — But What the Heck Is Abscam?

American Hustle opens with a wry disclaimer: “Some of this actually happened.” Though its foundation is torn straight from newspaper headlines recounting the FBI’s Abscam sting operations from the late seventies, the movie focuses on a historical event that most people under the age of 30 are unlikely to have ever heard of. And because American Hustle spins its elaborate web of con men, government agents, and shady politicians at a purposely frantic pace, the movie stands to leave less informed audiences wondering what exactly is making the characters lose their minds. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner all poke their noses into each other’s businesses — but why? Here’s a brief history of Abscam:

What Is Abscam? In February of 1978, the FBI recruited Melvin Weinberg, a convicted con artist, to assist them in their pursuit of two stolen paintings. Through continued collaboration with the art and insurance fraud expert, the organization’s operation evolved into an investigation of political corruption. Using the same tactics Weinberg employed to swindle money from clueless investors, the government hoped to draw out money-hungry politicians and catch them in illegal negotiations. To pull off the operation, Weinberg created a fake company, “Abdul Enterprises,” funded by two wealthy Arab sheiks. Shorten “Arab scam” and you get “Abscam.” (In the years since the operation, the FBI has insisted the portmanteau derives from the more politically correct “Abdul scam”)

Melvin Weinberg With a pot belly and a comb-over, 39-year-old Christian Bale is transformed into American Hustle ’s Irving Rosenfeld — its proxy for Melvin Weinberg. According to his authorized biography,  The Sting Man, Weinberg’s first con occurred in 1931 at the age of 6, when he swindled gold stars away from his elementary school teacher in the Bronx. When his father entered the glass business a few years later, young Weinberg took to shooting out the windows of competing local businesses.

By the late sixties, Weinberg was married, living on Long Island, and running London Investors, Ltd., a fraudulent business that, according to court documents, had been a “front-end scam” for real estate investment. Weinberg would promise his clients large loans, take their “processing fees” of several thousand dollars, and never produce his half of the bargain. One of his victims was Las Vegas performer Wayne Newton, who paid Weinberg $800 to arrange a loan.

By 1969, after a brush with the law, he was doubling as an informant for the FBI, ratting out New York criminals. Somehow, he thought this would keep him safe from prosecution. Yet in 1977, Weinberg was forced to plead guilty to (and was convicted of) fraud in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The FBI seized the moment, strong-arming him into joining what became Abscam.

Weinberg’s Mistress, Evelyn Knight While Amy Adams’s  American Hustle character Sydney Prosser is essential to the long con enacted by Bale’s Rosenfeld, her real-life counterpart, Evelyn Knight, was an outsider to Abscam. According to Weinberg’s wife, the British-born Knight was the con man’s mistress for fourteen years, as well as his partner-in-crime at London Investors, Ltd.. In business meetings, he claimed Knight was “Lady Evelyn, one of the ten richest women in the world.” She would sit out Abscam, and when Weinberg moved to Florida after the dust settled to live in anonymity, his mistress followed. Weinberg even picked up the tab for her house, which he apparently decorated to look identical to the house he shared with his wife. In 1982, he divorced his wife and married Knight.

The Politician, Angelo Errichetti To avoid entrapment (going out and straight-up bribing the targets), Weinberg fed information to his FBI contacts on Abdul Enterprises’ “vast funds.” He, along with FBI agents John Good and Anthony Amoroso, set up shop in Hauppauge, New York. Like Weinberg’s London Investors, their “business” had no obvious front other than dishing out loans. The hope was that, through word of mouth, those in the know would come knocking for payouts from the fictitious sheik who was looking to do American business. The big get was Angelo Errichetti (whose movie alter ego, Carmine Polito, is played by Jeremy Renner), who was both mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and a New Jersey state senator when he came knocking at the door.

After casino gambling was partially legalized in New Jersey in 1976, Errichetti looked to help resurrect and expand Atlantic City as a casino town. The mayor told Weinberg and the FBI he had influence in obtaining gambling casino licenses — he just needed money. As the FBI records explain, the “sheik” was happy to bribe anyone and everyone in order to develop casinos, as well as gain asylum in the U.S. Errichetti would play the middleman connecting Abdul Enterprsies with the corrupt politicians who turn a blind eye and push the necessary legislation through the system. The bargain: Abdul Enterprises would pay congressmen $50,000 up front and an extra $50,000 later.

The Sting Operations Legitimacy became an issue during the Abscam con. Agents Good and Amoroso (the closest player to the Bradley Cooper film character) quarreled over the money that should be poured into the operation. Good thought the usual low-rent flourishes would cut it; Amoroso, hearing the advice from Weinberg, knew a billionaire sheik would demand a certain style.

According to Weinberg’s biographer Robert. W. Greene, the FBI’s problem was that “the budget-conscious government investigator cannot think in terms of Dom Perignon, coffee breaks, authentic Louis XVI furniture, and rented Lear jets as props for an investigation. The government mind tends more to Sears, Roebuck suits, dinner meetings at Schrafft’s, and discount rooms at the Dixie Hotel … Weinberg made the difference.”

The schemes were lavish. When Errichetti and his partner, Philadelphia attorney Howard Criden, wanted to meet the sheik, Weinberg convinced Amoroso to throw a party on a luxury yacht, obtained by U.S. Customs during a drug bust, in South Florida. With an FBI stand-in playing “Kambir Abdul Rahman,” Errichetti was convinced not only to accept bribes, but facilitate other deals between Abdul Enterprises and politicians.

From there, it was just a matter of organizing meetings and convincing the high-profile wheelers and dealers to accept the money. And they had to actually take the money. Surveillance cameras were planted in order to capture the moment a suspect would technically break the law. In the below video, Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha is seen conversing with Weinberg, Amoroso, and Criden, but never takes the briefcase packed with money. He is one of the few un-indicted co-conspirators of Abscam.

The Perpetrators With over $600,000 spent on the operation, Abscam ended in 1980 after two years of undercover operating. Prior to Abscam, only ten members of Congress had ever been convicted of bribery; after it concluded, a senator, six members of the House of Representatives, one immigration official, Mayor Errichetti, two members of the Philadelphia city council, and, allegedly, a member of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission all had been.

The Abscam Scandal As one might expect from Abscam’s unconventional methods, serious fallout continued for years after Abdul Enterprises closed up shop. The operation went under the microscope.Was Abscam entrapment? Or just, as one prosecutor put it, “’outrageous governmental misconduct”? There were also accusations of a lack of oversight in regards to Weinberg’s work. The con-man-for-hire took many meetings without his federal babysitters, and the operation resulted in a big payday for Weinberg — he was given about $150,000 by the FBI. Undocumented time spent with congressman also raised the possibility that Weinberg accepted his own off-the-book bribes.

A barrage of comments Weinberg’s wife Marie gave to 20/20 in February 1982 stirred the pot. The grief-stricken woman accused her husband of perjury, illegal gift-taking (everything from money to suits to microwaves), and kickbacks while in the employ of the FBI. On top of the televised testimony, Marie wrote a nineteen-page statement that detailed her cheating husband’s exploits. A week after it aired, she committed suicide.

Abscam Fan Letters The FBI provides a fittingly bizarre cap to the Abscam escapades. Among the few documents promoted on the agency’s site are a handful of congratulatory letters sent to F.B.I. director William H. Webster on his job well done: “Dear Mr. Webster, I love it! Your investigation of the congress is the best thing the FBI has ever done. I don’t think all of our congressman are weak but this should get the rest of them to clean their acts up.”

When was the last time you sent the FBI a nice note?

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The Real Story and Lesson of the Abscam Sting in ‘American Hustle’

How much of the movie American Hustle actually happened, and what was the real legacy of the famous Abscam caper it’s based on?

David Handschuh/AP

What is the American hustle? Is it quintessentially American to make wealth any way you can, to do it as quickly as possible, and to wheel and deal and bribe and con as if that’s the natural order of things? America, so it seems, was founded on swindling the natives, kidnapping Africans, the scams of the robber barons, the sins of the gilded age, the Teapot Dome scandal, the Boss Tweeds, the Huey Longs ( All the King’s Men ), and the Richard Nixons ( All the President’s Men ). Moral and political corruption, the very heart of the American hustle, seems to have been with us always. Ask Americans just a few decades ago (or, indeed, Indians today ) and they might say that graft is just how things get done. But think of corruption today and we would all accept nothing but a zero-tolerance policy.

What changed?

Go and watch the new David O. Russell film American Hustle , and you’ll see a very loose version of the Abscam caper of 1978 to 1980, the FBI sting that bagged six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, one U.S. senator, the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, city councilors of Philadelphia, and an Immigration and Naturalization Service official. Instead of a straight adaptation of the events, Russell is interested in dramatizing the irony and moral ambiguity of staging a hustle to catch hustlers, and how the operation itself was a hustle of questionable integrity. Was it entrapment? What part did ego, delusions, and indifference play? In fact, you’ll see all the contradictions internalized in one man. That man is Irving Rosenfeld, the character played by Christian Bale in American Hustle , who’s nothing like the real man behind Abscam. What Russell and Bale have created is someone deep and anguished, as complicated as the travesty of a comb-over on his head, and a symbol of how we are still dealing with the American hustle today.

The real Rosenfeld is a much simpler con man named Melvin Weinberg, who grew up in the Bronx and was indeed a convicted swindler who always wanted to make a quick buck. In the film, when he was a boy, Irving helped his father’s glass installation business by throwing rocks through storefront windows in order to drum up demand. But according to The Sting Man , Robert W. Greene’s telling of Weinberg’s story and the Abscam affair, Weinberg didn’t work for his father until after his first marriage, to a wife named Mary, who had three kids with him. And he was smashing windows because the glass business was heavily corrupt. Companies that bribed the union and cheated customers did well, and it was a union official who asked Weinberg to break the windows of storeowners who patronized nonunion glaziers. Russell’s invention is primal and direct, but Weinberg’s reality has an additional layer of cautionary irony. The corrupt union official’s name, by the way, was Irving.

Weinberg did start a firm called London Investors, and for a large nonrefundable upfront fee, he promised to secure for his clients huge loans that would never materialize. One of his victims was Vegas singer Wayne Newton, who was one of the lucky ones since he was only duped out of $850. Weinberg said the suckers were so eager that some of them got taken twice, although this doesn’t seem so crazy if you think about the high interest rates of the stagflation years.

By this time he had divorced Mary and married his mistress Marie, who’s named Rosalyn in the film and played by Jennifer Lawrence. With a new wife came a new mistress, and in the movie she’s named Sydney Prosser, played by Amy Adams, and she impersonates an English noblewoman, calling herself Lady Edith. In real life she was Evelyn Knight, who was actually English, and she was so beautiful that Weinberg would introduce her as Lady Evelyn (changed to Diane in Greene’s book to protect her identity) to use her in his scams, and nobody thought she was anything but nobility. (She actually almost left Weinberg for Wayne Newton.) She didn’t have a big part in Weinberg’s cons and he didn’t really tell her what he did—until one of the victims sued him and the feds had an arrest warrant out for this “Lady Evelyn.” At which point Weinberg, who was facing a grand jury himself, agreed to help the FBI with four cases if charges against her were dropped. In fact, Weinberg had already been an FBI informant for years. Because he always delivered, they wanted to hook him for more.

Initially the operation began as a low priority white-collar sting with a $32,000 budget to last maybe a few months. But one time, Weinberg helped the FBI recover some stolen paintings, and the company that had insured the paintings gave him a $10,000 reward for his efforts. That’s when he thought he could make a living helping the FBI—“as a government crook,” Greene wrote, as if that’s an official job description. He did it “strictly for the money,” Weinberg told Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes.

So he kept working for the FBI after the four cases were done, and thought up bigger and bigger schemes, finally settling on the standard version: he was the agent of millionaire businessman Kambir Abdul Rahman (who might have been the name of an actual Arab millionaire he met on a flight from Paris, but who knows?), a sheikh from the Arab Emirates. One of the scenarios was that the sheikh wanted to loan out his money at interest, but Islamic laws against usury prevented him from doing so, and he needed bogus or forged certificates of deposits to withdraw cash from Muslim banks to invest elsewhere. Others were told that he simply wanted to invest his millions in the U.S., or buy art and finance pornographic films.

The sheikh was portrayed by as many as three FBI agents throughout Abscam, which stood for Arab scam, until complaints from the American-Arab Relations Committee forced the FBI to say that it stood for Abdul scam instead. In American Hustle , the FBI could only get a Mexican-American to play the sheikh, and in reality they once staged a deal using an agent named Mike Denehy who spoke no Arabic at all and couldn’t even muster up “ as-salamu alaykum .” Later they found a Lebanese-American agent who spoke some Arabic. They even added a second fictional sheikh, Yassir Habib, who was eventually promoted to the rank of emir. Again, all of this might not seem so insane once you think of how the OPEC oil embargos of 1973 and 1979 shot up the price of gasoline and swelled the wallets of many an Arab prince.

At first Weinberg targeted white-collar crooks like William Rosenberg, who was told that he’d gain $7 million in commissions if he could help the sheikh make a profitable $100-million investment in turning Atlantic City into the Vegas of the East. The only problem was that the sheikh needed a guarantee that the hotel-casino he was helping to build would get a gambling license. Don’t worry, Rosenberg said, he knew Camden mayor Angelo Errichetti.

Errichetti was a foul-mouthed megalomaniac and “a crook at heart,” Greene wrote. At their first meeting, Errichetti told Weinberg that he could promise a gambling license. “I’ll give you Atlantic City; without me, you do nothing,” he told the sheikh’s associates. “I’ll be your rabbi.” He wanted $400,000 in bribes. And over the next year, he offered to get the undercover agents into all types of scams. “He wanted to get into counterfeit money. He wanted to give us the port of Camden for narcotics,” Weinberg said. As The Sting Man shows, Abscam was becoming so outrageous that it was turning into an American Farce.

Errichetti opened Abscam wide, and connected Weinberg to a whole host of U.S. congressmen. It had become a political sting. By then, the sheikh wanted American citizenship, and middlemen were finding corrupt politicians who could help in the matter in exchange for cash. Errichetti’s proxy in American Hustle is Carmine Polito, played by Jeremy Renner. Russell created a charismatic and trusting family man who wanted the sheikh to reinvigorate Camden and Atlantic City—to create jobs for his people. Christian Bale’s Irving Rosenfeld liked Polito so much that he engineered a scheme to blackmail the FBI into giving Polito a reduced sentence. That’s completely made up, although Weinberg did like Errichetti very much, not because he was a good man but because he was the biggest crook of them all. “He’s a likeable guy… he didn’t beat around the bush,” Weinberg told 60 Minutes . “He wanted to make money.”

I was at first puzzled that Russell had imbued Polito with such benevolent qualities. But the decisive move turned a simple black and white heist movie into an examination of the American hustle in all its dizzying double-crossing games. As Rosenfeld says, the world is grey. Rosenfeld identifies with Polito, and his anguish is real, although it was not felt by Weinberg, who only wanted to make money (he was paid $150,000 by the FBI for his work) and outsmart the politicians, whom he called “a bunch of perverts, drunks, and crooks.” But many Americans, as well as Congress and the Justice Department, were deeply ambivalent, and some thought the whole Abscam affair was basically entrapment. In the end, Sen. Harrison “Pete” Williams of New Jersey, Reps. John Jenrette of South Carolina, Raymond Lederer and Michael “Ozzie” Myers of Pennsylvania, Frank Thompson of New Jersey, John Murphy of New York, and Richard Kelly of Florida, all of them Democrats except for Kelly, were convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 1981. Kelly fought his case on the grounds of entrapment but ultimately lost. Thompson initially didn’t take the money; Weinberg had to go after him a second time. Another Penn. congressman John Murtha and South Dakota senator Larry Pressler escaped indictment because they never took the case of money offered them.

The FBI official who thought up and headed Abscam was John Good, another Bronx native. But Weinberg liked to work with another agent, Tony Amoroso, who joined the fix later. In the film, the Bradley Cooper character Richie DiMaso is largely fictional but based loosely on Good and Amoroso. Both of them served as consultants to American Hustle , but neither of them had an affair with Weinberg’s mistress, who was not even involved in Abscam. (Neither was Marie, who sadly hung herself in 1982, a week after 20/20 aired a segment of her accusing her cheating husband of taking bribes and gifts—including, yes, a microwave oven.) It’s another of Russell’s great flourishes, however, to have DiMaso as aggressive and delusional as in the film. He thinks he’s the renegade hero outsmarting everyone, but is he just a violent lunatic staging a show to gain glory? DiMaso, in his Jheri curls and gold chains, simply embodied another side of the game. He’s even hustling himself.

In the movie, as DiMaso raised the stakes higher and higher, Rosenfeld felt increasingly uncomfortable about the whole thing. A few years ago Nixon had said, “I am not a crook,” and now DiMaso wanted to go after politicians, just when America was starting to trust the government again? It isn’t just Rosenfeld’s excuse to get out of a jam. A lot of people felt that way.

Indeed, in reality, public sentiments changed when it was revealed that a convicted conman was the mastermind, and that the bureau had spent more than half a million dollars. Though Abscam won 19 convictions, Congress took it personally, and made a spectacle of it, opening hearings and denying and delaying FBI appointments in a show of protest. All of which had an effect that Abscam became an even bigger story that the entire country knew about, and changed the public perception on corruption. Politicians weren’t so much seen as immoral and evil as just plain stupid, and who would want to be seen that way?

But behind the curtain, Congress successfully forced the U.S. attorney general to issue new guidelines that restricted undercover operations against politicians. The rules have made a large stunt like Abscam impossible to pursue today. The effect of all this is that, as a nation, we are far less tolerant of the misuse of political power, but officials lack the claws to police the matter.

To this day, people debate whether Abscam was a milestone that brought graft to a whole new light and assured that politicians wouldn’t likely take the risk again, or whether it was a botched investigation that ripped apart straw men. American Hustle gives no answer, no solace to our uncertainty. It even escalates the discomfort and duplicity by magnitudes. But we can recognize that heavy-handed corruption ought to belong to the era of flamboyant comb-overs and aviator glasses. Just look at the likes of James Traficant and Rod Blagojevich. They look like they came from the age of Abscam, and should have stayed there.

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American Hustle: History vs. Hollywood

Why did the filmmakers include the disclaimer, "This is a work of fiction," in the closing credits of the movie?

How long had Melvin "Mel" Weinberg been living a life of crime prior to his capture?

As indicated in the American Hustle movie, prior to his capture by the FBI, Mel had been living a life of delinquency ever since he was a boy growing up in the Bronx. It was then that he stole gold stars from his teacher's desk in order to show his mother what an excellent student he was. That was only a small indication of what lied ahead. When his father's window-glass business was on the rocks, a helpful Mel drove around town in a Cadillac, shooting out windows with his slingshot. His father's business surged. His delinquency as a juvenile eventually evolved into large scale swindles as an adult. -Washington Post

Why did confessed con man Mel Weinberg agree to help the FBI?

Was Melvin Weinberg paid for helping the FBI?

Yes. With regard to the American Hustle true story, not only did Melvin Weinberg avoid a three-year prison sentence, he was paid $150,000 of taxpayers' money for helping to stage and execute the Abscam operation ( Justice.gov ). This was also due to the fact that after he had helped the FBI with the four cases he agreed to as part of his deal to avoid jail time, they offered to pay him to stay on and help them with Abscam. "A lot of that is expenses if you look at it," says Weinberg. When asked by interviewer Mike Wallace if he stayed with the FBI out of fear, patriotism, or simply as another way to make a buck, Weinberg replied, "Strictly for the money." -60 Minutes

Amy Adams's Sydney Prosser character was inspired by Weinberg's real-life English-born mistress Evelyn Knight. Did the real Irving Rosenfeld, Mel Weinberg, really have a mistress who helped him pull off cons?

Yes. Sydney Prosser, portrayed by Amy Adams (pictured left) in the American Hustle movie, was indeed inspired by a real-life individual. As noted in Robert W. Greene's book The Sting Man , Mel Weinberg had a longtime English-born mistress named Evelyn Knight, who had arrived in the U.S. in 1970 and had helped him pull off cons before he was arrested and started working with the FBI. Weinberg often passed her off as Lady Evelyn, one of the world's richest women ( People.com ). It should be noted that Evelyn was in fact born in England, which differs from Adams's movie character, a former stripper from New Mexico who pretends to pass herself off as a Brit named Lady Edith. Though Evelyn did cross paths with Mayor Errichetti one night while she was out to dinner with Weinberg, she never became involved in the Abscam operation like she does in the movie, nor did she develop a flirtatious relationship with an FBI agent, as she does with Bradley Cooper's character. In 1979, when Weinberg and his wife Marie moved to Florida at the height of Abscam, he made sure to purchase a condominium not far from his mistress Evelyn, whom he had already set up in a condo shortly after their arrest. To explain the second residence, he told his wife that he was helping a trucking official from England. Just over a month after his estranged wife's suicide on January 28, 1982, Mel Weinberg married Evelyn, who was nineteen years his junior ( The New York Times ). The former partners in crime later divorced.

How did Weinberg and his mistress first meet?

According to Robert Greene's book The Sting Man , Mel Weinberg met his British-born mistress, Evelyn Knight (portrayed by Amy Adams in the American Hustle movie), at a New York cocktail party sponsored by the British government. After a relationship developed, she took him to England to meet her parents.

Why was the FBI operation called "Abscam"?

As we probed the American Hustle true story, we quickly learned that the FBI sting operation that was nicknamed Abscam is a contraction of Abdul Scam, which refers to the phony company set up by the FBI, Abdul Enterprises.

How long did the Abscam operation last?

The FBI Abscam operation lasted approximately two years, beginning in July 1978 and ending in 1980.

What was the purpose of the FBI's Abscam operation?

What role did Melvin Weinberg play in the Abscam operation?

Like Christian Bale's character in the American Hustle movie, the real Irving Rosenfeld, Melvin Weinberg, was instrumental in staging the Abscam operation. He assisted the FBI in selecting potential targets and contacted a variety of individuals to tell them that his principals (in this case the concocted Arab sheik) were looking to invest large sums of money in exchange for various political favors. -Justice.gov

Is Bradley Cooper's character, Richie DiMaso, based on a real person?

Did Mel Weinberg really own a legit dry-cleaning business like his counterpart, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), in the movie?

Yes. At one point, the real Irving Rosenfeld, Mel Weinberg, owned a total of twenty-six dry-cleaning stores in Queens, operating under the name Ditmars Cleaners. -The Sting Man

Did Mel Weinberg really have a heart problem?

Yes. The Sting Man book mentions Weinberg having a "spasm of pain in his chest," after which he went to see a doctor. It also mentions him carrying high blood pressure and heart pills as part of his everyday accoutrements.

Is Jeremy Renner's character, Mayor Carmine Polito, based on a real person?

Did Weinberg really develop a friendship with his target, Mayor Angelo Errichetti?

[spoiler] Did Mel Weinberg really con the FBI to help get the mayor a reduced sentence?

No. Although the real Weinberg was sorry to see Mayor Angelo Errichetti get busted, t he movie's twist ending is pure fiction. Weinberg never hustled the FBI in order to gain leverage so that he could get the mayor a reduced sentence.

Did Mel Weinberg's wife really confront his mistress?

Yes, although it didn't happen quite like it does in the film, nor did it happen in a ladies' room. In the movie, we see Irving Rosenfeld's wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) confront his mistress Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) in a heated blow-up that nearly becomes a catfight. In real life, Mel Weinberg's wife Marie grew suspicious, and she went to the condo that he told her he had been providing for a trucking official from England named Sir Robert Gordon. She discovered he was lying and confronted his English-born mistress Evelyn Knight. Mel stayed upstairs during the confrontation.

Mel Weinberg's wife Marie is found dead after an apparent suicide by hanging. What happened to Mel Weinberg's wife in real life?

On January 28, 1982, Marie Weinberg's body was found on the staircase of a vacant condominium next to her own in Tequesta Hills, Florida. She had committed suicide by hanging herself after drinking alcohol with a depressant ( The New York Times ). A note discovered on the kitchen table read, "My sin was wanting to love and be loved, nothing more. But [a] campaign is being made by Mel to discredit me. I haven't the strength to fight him anymore.... Everything I have attested to is the truth." It was only a few months prior that she had discovered her husband's mistress, Evelyn Knight, after which Marie had demanded a divorce from Mel. She also claimed that he had taken $45,000 in payoffs from one Abscam defendant and accepted gifts from middlemen, subsequently giving away expensive suits and furniture to FBI agents. Not long before her death, she showed an interviewer one such gift, a microwave of which she said Mel had filed off the serial number ( Watch the Marie Weinberg Interview ). Mayor Angelo Errichetti claims to have given Mel the microwave (as depicted in the movie). Marie's allegations tarnished Weinberg's image with regard to his involvement in the Abscam sting. -People.com

Does the real Irving Rosenfeld, Mel Weinberg, have any children?

Like Christian Bale's character in the American Hustle movie, Mel Weinberg has an adoptive son. However, unlike the movie, his son is not the biological offspring of his wife. Instead, he and his wife Marie adopted a boy in 1963. They named him Mel Jr. and called him "J.R.". In real life, his son was a teenager at the time of the events in the movie, not a child. Weinberg also has three children from a previous marriage that ended in divorce. -People.com

How many people were convicted as a result of the FBI's Abscam operation?

As a result of the two-year operation, one senator, six congressmen and more than a dozen other criminals and corrupt officials were taken into custody and convicted. This includes Senator Harrison "Pete" Williams (D-NJ) and six members of the House of Representatives. These six include Raymond Lederer (D-PA), Michael "Ozzie" Myers (D-PA), Frank Thompson (D-N.J.), John M. Murphy (D-N.Y.), John Jenrette (D-SC), and Richard Kelly (R-FL). Other convicted government officials include Camden, New Jersey Democratic Mayor Angelo Errichetti, several members of the Philadelphia City Council and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Read The Sting Man book . Learn more about Mel Weinberg, Abscam and the true story behind American Hustle . Why was the Abscam operation so controversial?

Abscam generated controversy in part due to the lengths that the FBI went to in order to ensnare its targets. This included the use of the "sting" technique and allowing Melvin Weinberg, a known con man and informant, to be involved in selecting the targets. Questions emerged about whether the undercover tactics used, including the creation of attractive criminal scenarios, led to entrapment. In the end, the courts upheld all of the convictions on appeal, even though some judges scrutinized the FBI's strategies and lack of FBI and DOJ supervision. Abscam was considered a success by the FBI, despite the controversy. -Justice.gov Others wanted more oversight and in the wake of Abscam, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Civiletti issued "The Attorney General Guidelines for FBI Undercover Operations" ("Civiletti Undercover Guidelines") on January 5, 1981, which formally laid down ground rules regarding procedures necessary to carry out undercover operations. Congressional hearings were held to discuss Civiletti's guidelines, at which time concerns were expressed over the undercover agents' involvement in illegal activity, the prospect of damaging the reputations of innocent civilians, the possibility of entrapping individuals, and the opportunity to undermine legitimate rights to privacy. Ultimately, these concerns led to at least three more sets of stricter guidelines being issued in the years that followed. -Justice.gov

Explore the American Hustle true story via the related videos below. Watch the complete footage of the John Murtha Abscam meeting, view an interview in which Mel Weinberg defends accusations that he accepted stolen gifts during Abscam, and watch the American Hustle movie trailer.

• American Hustle Official Sony Pictures Movie Website

Everything American Hustle Doesn't Tell You About The True Story

Director David O. Russell 's "American Hustle" is one of those rare films that fires on all cylinders. Its star-studded cast includes Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner. This highly-rated , Oscar-nominated , commercial success  comically explored the FBI Abscam corruption probe conducted during the late '70s, which targeted politicians who took bribes for favors. Scriptwriter Eric Warren Singer told SF Gate , "I pulled back the veneer and ... learned about the human drama of what happened, which was so textured and rich and funny and bizarre. Here was this sort of stranger-than-fiction story that had not been told before ."

"American Hustle" begins with the title card, "Some of this actually happened," setting the farcical tone of the  movie while clueing the audience into the fact that a true story inspired the film . As reported by The New York Times , the film is based loosely on Mel Weinberg's authorized biography, "The Sting Man," by Robert W. Greene. But Singer and Russell didn't let historical accuracy stop them from putting their own spin on the story, including the creation of a fictional side-plot. The result is an engaging and hilarious period movie about corruption which argues that nearly everyone is guilty of running a con in their life, even if they are only conning themselves.

Keep reading to explore everything "American Hustle" doesn't tell you about the true story.

Christian Bale's character is based on Mel Weinberg

Irving Rosenfeld, played brilliantly by Christian Bale , is the hustler at the center of "American Hustle" and was based on real-life con man Mel Weinberg. As reported by The New York Times , Weinberg was born in the Bronx and grew up with two older sisters. He dropped out of high school and joined the Navy during World War II. After he returned from the war, Weinberg worked with his father, installing windows. Slate confirmed that, as depicted in the film, Weinberg increased business by breaking more windows. According to Time , Weinberg later owned a chain of dry cleaners and a glass installation business, while becoming a confidence man who swindled people desperate for a risky loan through his shady business, London Investors. 

According to The Washington Post , Weinberg sold the film's producers the rights to his life story for $250,000. Despite the name change, Weinberg is apparently portrayed accurately in the movie. In 2014, after "American Hustle" was nominated for 10 Oscars, Weinberg told ABC News that the depiction of him in the film was realistic. "Christian Bale, I think, did a great job," Weinberg said while acknowledging that he did wear his hair in an elaborate comb-over. "He nailed it, in terms of what Mel Weinberg was." Weinberg spoke to The New York Times in 2017 in preparation for his obituary, saying, "I've had a good life, a charmed life." He died in Florida in 2018 at 93 years old.

Amy Adams' character is based on Evelyn Knight

Amy Adams ' character in "American Hustle," Sydney Prosser, becomes Irving Rosenfeld's mistress after they meet at a pool party. Sydney helps Irving with his scams, using a fake English accent and taking on the new identity of Lady Edith Greenley to add class and authenticity to the London Investors grift. According to  Time , Adam's character was based on Mel Weinberg's real-life mistress, Evelyn Knight, but unlike in the film, Knight actually was British rather than an American pretending to be a Brit.

As reported by Slate , Knight did help Weinberg with his scams, although her role was relatively minor and she was not the full-on partner depicted in the film. As reported by The New York Times , it was Weinberg who was arrested in 1977, tried, and convicted of fraud and conspiracy. Weinberg pleaded guilty to protect Knight when she was also threatened with prosecution.

As Weinberg told ABC News , Knight didn't take part in the Abscam plot like Adams' character in the film did, but he confirmed that they did get married and raised his adopted son together as shown at the end of the movie. Weinberg added that Knight "didn't like the way she was portrayed." Knight was also not involved in a love triangle with an FBI agent as depicted in the movie — that was a Hollywood embellishment (per Time). Although Weinberg and Knight divorced in 1998, she still confirmed his death to The New York Times.

Weinberg was approached by the FBI after he was sentenced to prison

As reported by Politico , the FBI approached Mel Weinberg to take part in an operation after he was sentenced to three years in prison, not in a deal to avoid prosecution as depicted in the film. Weinberg's sentence was reduced to probation and he became an undercover FBI operative, who was reportedly well-paid for his work as the lynchpin of Abscam.

According to 60 Minutes , Weinberg's agreement with the FBI included four sting operations as depicted in "American Hustle," but after those stings were completed, he kept working with the FBI as an undercover operative during Abscam "strictly for the money." Weinberg didn't see the difference between scamming for himself or scamming for the FBI.

This is something we repeatedly see when it comes to Weinberg. He was always looking for an angle and a new way to make money. To his credit, he was always honest about that, admitting that it was always about the payout for him, and it was never personal. In 2014, prior to the Academy Awards, Weinberg told ABC News  that he hoped "American Hustle" brought some Oscars home, saying, "Maybe I'll see some money."

Abscam didn't start as a political corruption probe

Although Abscam evolved into a political corruption operation, it started out with Weinberg taking down con artists like himself . We see this in "American Hustle," when Irving Rosenfeld explains the principles of a successful con to Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) while discussing various scams that they could run using a false sheikh. The film quickly moves into Abscam and corruption, skipping the early scams Weinberg ran for the FBI, when Carl Elway (Shea Whigham) brings Camden mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) into the picture.

In reality, as reported by Vulture , Weinberg's relationship with the FBI began with Weinberg helping to recover stolen paintings. This might be where Rosenfeld's interest in selling forged and stolen art at the beginning of the film comes from. In "The Sting Man," we learn that after Weinberg helped recover the paintings, the insurance company gave him a $10,000 finder's fee, and he realized that working for the FBI "as a government crook" might be lucrative.

After recovering the paintings, Weinberg continued working with the FBI in various scams involving his fake sheikh, luring marks who wanted to borrow the sheikh's money or help the sheikh invest in real estate in the U.S. Per  The Daily Beast , it was when William Rosenberg suggested that the Camden mayor Angelo Errichetti was on the take and could help the sheikh attain permits for a casino in Atlantic City that the FBI operation turned toward political corruption.

Richie DiMaso is a composite character

According to The Washington Post , Bradley Cooper's character, Richie DiMaso, is a composite character based on a few FBI agents who worked on Abscam, including John Good, Tony Amoroso, and Jack McCarthy. According to Slate , DiMaso's closest real-life counterpart was Amoroso, whom Mel Weinberg was impressed with while working undercover with him. Weinberg told ABC News  that he thought the film was hard on the FBI, saying, "They weren't as bad as it looks in the movie."

DiMaso is depicted as an ambitious agent who turns into a volatile, coke-snorting madman when he discovers that he enjoys the excitement of being involved in a scam. DiMaso gets carried away, blurring the lines between his undercover persona and his position as a federal agent by engaging in an affair with Amy Adams' character. He also pummels his supervisor, Stoddard Thorsen (Louis C.K.), with a telephone base when Thorsen won't give DiMaso everything he wants for the operation.

John Good, a consultant on the film, told The Washington Post, "None of that ever happened." But he acknowledged that the filmmakers took dramatic license with the story because "if they just did it the way Abscam was done, it would be a very boring movie." Despite being a composite, DiMaso is integral to the fictional side-plot, which involves Adams' character running a long con on the FBI. But Weinberg's mistress was not involved in Abscam, and none of the FBI agents had an affair with her.

Jeremy Renner's character is based on a real mayor

The movie's mayor of Camden, Carmine Polito, is a sympathetic character who genuinely loves his constituents. Polito only gets involved with Irv Rosenfeld's sheikh and investment scam because he thinks it will help his community rebuild the casinos in Atlantic City and bring jobs to his economically depressed New Jersey region. Renner's Polito is likable, which plagues Rosenfeld with guilt in the film because he comes to think of Polito as a friend.

According to Slate , Polito's real-world counterpart, Angelo Errichetti, was indeed the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and was known for being corrupt, despite also being loved by his community. In reality, Mel Weinberg and Errichetti developed a friendship, just as depicted in the film. Weinberg told 60 Minutes unequivocally that he liked the mayor, saying that if he had met Errichetti earlier in life, they would have been partners in crime running scams together.

Although "American Hustle" accurately depicts the friendship between Polito and Rosenfeld and positions Polito as the crux of the Abscam corruption angle, Mel Weinberg didn't con the FBI to get a reduced sentence for the Camden mayor as Rosenfeld does in the film. According to Time , the long con involving the mob attorney, Alfonse Simone (Paul Herman), and a wire transfer was pure fiction. Weinberg told NJ.com , "He was a nice guy. But he was just an unbelievable crook," suggesting that Weinberg believed Errichetti got what he deserved.

Jennifer Lawrence's role was based on Cynthia Marie Regan

Jennifer Lawrence's character Rosalyn was based on Mel Weinberg's second wife, Cynthia Marie Reagan , known as Marie Weinberg after their marriage. Although Irving Rosenfeld's wife Rosalyn is depicted as being much younger than Rosenfeld in "American Hustle," Marie Weinberg was in reality closer to her husband's age (Weinberg was in his 50s), while his mistress Evelyn Knight was younger (via  The Guardian ).

Weinberg's only complaint about the film was regarding Lawrence's casting, telling ABC News , "The mistress should always be hotter than your wife." According to Time , there is no evidence that Marie had an affair with a mobster as Rosalyn does in the film, nor did she complicate matters by divulging information to the mob about her husband's business dealings related to Abscam.

According to The New York Times , Weinberg and his wife Marie bought a condo and moved to Florida in 1979. Marie asked for a divorce and they separated after she learned that her husband's mistress followed them to Florida. Tragically, Marie died by suicide in 1982 after telling 20/20 that her husband accepted gifts from Abscam marks, like the microwave Carmine Polito gives Rosenfeld in the film. Mel denied these accusations, telling 20/20 that he turned over everything he was given to the FBI, although 20/20's investigation suggested otherwise.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

A Lebanese FBI agent played Sheikh Abdul

Sheikh Abdul is played by a Mexican-American FBI agent, Paco Hernandez (Michael Peña), who finds the operation's name, Abscam (short for Arab Scam), offensive. With this character, the film gives credence to real-world complaints about the name of the operation, suggesting it was racist. The film also plays with the failure of the first FBI agent who posed as a sheikh. According to  The Guardian , that agent, Mike Dennehy, had Irish ancestry and didn't speak a word of Arabic.

Per  The Washington Post , one allegedly embarrassing but hilarious incident is dramatized in the film when the mobster Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro) speaks Arabic to the sheikh at an impromptu meeting in Atlantic City, but the sheikh doesn't know how to respond. In real life, that sheikh was replaced by a Lebanese-born FBI agent who knew some Arabic. According to Slate , Weinberg also invited politicians and grifters, including Mayor Angelo Errichetti, to a party cruise in Florida on a yacht purported to be owned by Sheikh Abdul, but actually owned by the FBI. This watery interlude is not depicted in "American Hustle."

The politicians' payoffs didn't happen at the Plaza Hotel

Unlike the way they were depicted in "American Hustle," the payoffs to corrupt politicians who accepted cash to fast-track the sheikh's citizenship and facilitate other favors didn't happen rapid fire at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. According to The Washington Post, they actually went down in Washington D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, at a colonial red-brick house that the FBI had sublet from a Washington Post journalist. The latter was on assignment elsewhere and none the wiser about the government operation transpiring within the walls of their home. 

Although the FBI did use the Plaza Hotel to impress marks as part of the scam, it was not where the congressmen were recorded accepting bribes. Former FBI agent John Good, who supervised the Abscam operation between 1978 and 1980, told the Washington Post that the Georgetown home "was wired completely. I watched all of the payoffs go down, every single one of them."

Weinberg worked as a private investigator after Abscam

"American Hustle" ends on a cheerful note: Rosalyn and her mobster boyfriend are together and making a go of co-parenting with Irving and Sydney, who get married. The film depicts Irving and Sydney as going legit, first by getting a traditional loan from a bank and then opening a legitimate art gallery after their time working for the FBI is done.

In reality, according to The Los Angeles Times , Weinberg worked on a counterfeit luxury handbags investigation in the 1980s for Louis Vuitton and Gucci, using the skills he learned from his time with the FBI and as a crook. According to The Hollywood Reporter , Weinberg continued supporting himself and his family in his later years with his dry-cleaning business chain and by working as a director of security for Louis Vuitton. Weinberg's New York Times obituary added that he worked as a private investigator in Miami for over a decade after Abscam and retired in 1994.

Abscam was a very successful operation

According to Slate , Abscam "was the largest bribery scandal in the history of Congress." Per  Vulture , only 10 members of Congress had ever been convicted of bribery prior to Abscam; according to The Guardian , Abscam led to 19 convictions, including one senator, six congressmen, and the mayor of Camden. Per  The Washington Post , Abscam was the largest political corruption probe the FBI had conducted up to that time, with over 100 agents working on it, and became the biggest scandal since Watergate after videos of politicians accepting bribes were made public.

Although the convictions created a scandal, people also questioned the methods that the FBI employed, including letting a known con man run point on the operation. Despite these criticisms, Weinberg stood by his work. As reported by The Washington Post , Weinberg told the author who wrote his biography, "There's only one difference between me and the congressmen I met on this case. The public pays them a salary for stealing." Weinberg doubled down on his stance in an interview with 60 Minutes , calling the politicians caught up in the Abscam scandal "a bunch of perverts, drunks, and crooks."

Abscam opened public discussions about entrapment

Just because Mel Weinberg thought these corrupt politicians got what they deserved didn't mean everyone agreed with his assessment. Despite the convictions and many rejected appeals , the Abscam operation and the scandal that followed led to a public outcry, with some accusing the FBI of entrapment. When asked about Abscam's methods, Weinberg told 60 Minutes , "We put the big honey pot out there, and all the flies came to us."

As reported by Slate , the Justice Department revamped its rules for undercover operations to avoid future accusations of entrapment, but the damage was done and everyone caught up in the scandal would pay for their involvement. Jeremy Renner's character, Carmine Polito, is how the filmmakers inject this debate into "American Hustle" — by making Polito a sympathetic character who tried to walk away but got reeled in by a con artist who told him it would offend the sheikh if he didn't take the money.

According to The Washington Post , the Senate and House conducted hearings to discuss entrapment, but the videos of politicians accepting bribes made it difficult to argue their innocence, and the quotes pulled from the videos made the defendants sound dishonest. One of the most outrageous quotes shows up in Irving Rosenfeld's monologue at the end of the film, borrowing the line "larceny in their blood" from South Carolina congressman John W. Jenrette Jr. who, according to The New York Times , was recorded as saying, "I got larceny in my blood."

Mel Weinberg, con artist at center of Abscam sting that landed U.S. politicians in prison, dies at 93

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At the center of an FBI corruption investigation that employed fake Middle Eastern sheikhs, a 65-foot yacht, plush hotel suites and paper bags of cash was a convicted con artist, a cigar-chomping swindler who once sold socks without soles and jackets without backs.

“You gotta think fast,” Mel Weinberg once said, explaining the improvisational approach that helped him cheat ordinary people on the streets of the Bronx and then ensnare a dozen government officials on bribery and conspiracy charges. “You can’t hesitate at all. Talk fast and bluff like hell.”

Weinberg, who was 93 when he died May 30 at a hospital in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was widely regarded as the linchpin of the Abscam sting, the late 1970s and early 1980s investigation that resulted in the convictions of politicians including one U.S. senator and six members of the House of Representatives.

Described by Justice Department officials as part of a new FBI focus on white-collar crime, the two-year undercover effort exploded into public view in February 1980. The operation featured more than 100 agents led by the FBI’s John Good, as well as the efforts of outsiders such as Weinberg, who cut a deal with the FBI to avoid prison time for an advance-fee scam he was running out of Long Island.

“Mel was a fabulous con man,” Good told the Star-Ledger in New Jersey in 2013. “He was a very, very intelligent guy. A little on the crude side, but with a magnificent ability to con people.... Without him, it’s unlikely we ever would have had a case.”

Though the FBI hailed Abscam as its largest political corruption investigation in at least a quarter of a century, critics said the bureau had overreached and accused investigators of entrapment. The case spawned stricter guidelines for FBI undercover operations, as well as a 2013 movie loosely based on Abscam, “American Hustle,” which starred a potbellied Christian Bale as Irving Rosenfeld, a stand-in for Weinberg.

The con man was enlisted by the FBI in 1978, soon after he was arrested for his advance-fee racket. Presenting himself as a slick, limo-riding representative to a nonexistent foreign bank, he had offered to help customers with bad credit get loans. He took fees of several thousand dollars and eventually told his marks that their loan had been turned down. The fee, he would remind them, with a tinge of regret, was nonrefundable.

Weinberg was arrested after one of his targets grew suspicious and called the FBI, which reportedly offered to clear his three-year prison sentence in exchange for work as an informant. He went on to receive a stipend of $3,000 a month, he said, and assisted in an investigation of stolen paintings that soon ballooned into Abscam.

The case name was short for “Arab scam,” law enforcement authorities said after the investigation became public; later, amid accusations of racism and xenophobia, officials said the name was in fact a contraction of “Abdul scam,” a reference to Abdul Enterprises Ltd., a business created as a front for the operation.

In essence, the investigation was a fishing expedition, in which Weinberg posed as the representative of a wealthy, unscrupulous sheikh aiming to do business in the United States. With FBI agents posing as officials in the company, and eventually as sheikhs, the group swept up mid-level racketeers until receiving an introduction to Angelo Errichetti, the well-connected mayor of Camden, N.J.

He was recorded offering Weinberg and his front company entree to Atlantic City, where gambling had recently been legalized. “Without me,” he told them at a meeting, “you do nothing.”

Through Errichetti, Weinberg and the FBI began meeting with congressmen at hotels, on a boat near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and at a house in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood. Each location was bugged with video cameras or listening devices, which recorded interactions such as Rep. Richard Kelly (R-Fla.) stuffing his pockets with $25,000 worth of bribes and asking, “Does it show?”

When Rep. John J. Jenrette Jr. (D-S.C.) was asked whether he would be able to ensure the passage of an immigration bill that would aid one of the sheikhs, he replied, “I’ve got larceny in my blood.”

In addition to Errichetti, Kelly and Jenrette, the investigation resulted in convictions of Reps. John M. Murphy (D-N.Y.), Raymond F. Lederer (D-Pa.), Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers (D-Pa.) and Frank Thompson Jr. (D-N.J.), as well as Sen. Harrison A. “Pete” Williams Jr. (D-N.J.). Three Philadelphia councilmen were also among those convicted. All resigned or were kicked out of office.

Weinberg said Abscam was a bumbling investigation that nearly went off the rails. The sheikh outfit was purchased from a costume shop for $37, and kosher corned beef and coleslaw were once accidentally served at a dinner.

“It was a farce,” he once told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper. “Here was an Arab eating kosher food in a headdress made for a kid. The thing came down to his shoulders where it should have come down to his knees. It was stupidity.” The tape recorder, fixed to the underside of the coffee table, fell down during the meal, but Weinberg said he “managed to kick it under the table.”

Melvin Weinberg was born in the Bronx on Dec. 4, 1924. His mother was a Swiss-born homemaker, and his father ran a store that sold plate glass.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, he worked in his father’s shop, according to “The Sting Man,” a 1981 history of the case — throwing rocks through neighborhood windows to increase sales.

In the years after Abscam, Weinberg ran a chain of dry-cleaning shops, according to a Hollywood Reporter obituary by his friend David Howard, and worked as director of security for the fashion house Louis Vuitton. In the mid-1980s, he helped Louis Vuitton and Gucci track down the manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit handbags in a case dubbed Bagscam.

He said he was paid $250,000 for the rights to his story in “American Hustle.”

“Getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Weinberg told Howard shortly before his death. “All the con men in those days died young.”

He is survived by a daughter, son and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Smith writes for the Washington Post.

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Mel Weinberg, 93, the F.B.I.’s Lure in the Abscam Sting, Dies

By Robert D. McFadden

• June 6, 2018

Mel Weinberg, the con artist whose greatest hustle was the F.B.I.’s 1978-79 Abscam sting, using phony Arab sheikhs, a yacht in Florida and suitcases of money to snare a senator, six congressmen and other public officials for influence peddling, died on May 30 in a hospital near his home in Titusville, Fla. He was 93.

His death was confirmed by his ex-wife Evelyn Weinberg.

A convicted swindler with a Runyonesque persona, Mr. Weinberg, facing prison for fraud, traded his criminal savvy for probation and became a principal orchestrator and actor in the two-year operation code-named Abscam. The operation videotaped politicians and others taking bribes from federal agents posing as oil-rich Arabs seeking favors on immigration problems and investment projects.

The case was the most spectacular corruption scandal of its era. Breaking publicly in 1980, it spawned almost daily revelations of self-incriminating conversations and exchanges of cash in scenes played out aboard a 65-foot yacht — a prize seized by customs agents in a drug bust — and in airport motels, a Washington townhouse and hotel suites in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

With chartered jets, limousines and parties to lend verisimilitude, the government-run scam led to convictions and prison terms for Senator Harrison A. Williams , a New Jersey Democrat, as well as the mayor of Camden, N.J., and 17 others. It inspired a revision of guidelines in federal undercover cases and legal and ethical debates over whether the defendants had been unlawfully entrapped.

It also led to the 2013 movie “American Hustle,” with a bulked-up Christian Bale playing the scandal’s central figure, Mr. Weinberg (named Irving Rosenfeld onscreen). Directed by David O. Russell and nominated for 10 Oscars, the film, which took many liberties with the case and its characters, was based loosely on “The Sting Man” (1981), a biography of Mr. Weinberg by Robert W. Greene.

Mr. Weinberg’s early life was a catalog of petty, sometimes bizarre, crime. He once sold 5,000 pairs of socks that had been manufactured with no soles. He peddled inferior glass to Italian-Americans by attaching “made in Italy” stickers. He tried to swindle Yaqui Indians in Mexico out of their gold-mining rights. He silenced a cousin, whom he had cheated, with a bogus threat of a mob contract killing.

He later specialized in what he called “advance fee” dodges. For “processing” fees of $1,000 or more, he promised to arrange million-dollar loans from “overseas banks” for people with shaky credit. The loans were as bogus as the banks. He stalled anxious clients for as long as possible, but eventually had to acknowledge, with sad apologies but no refunds, that the loans had not been approved.

“When a guy is in a jam and lookin’ for money, it’s my philosophy to give hope,” he told The New York Times Magazine in 1982. “If you say you can’t do nothin’, you’re killin’ his hope. Everybody has to have hope. That’s why most people don’t turn us in to the cops. They keep hopin’ we’re for real.”

Mr. Weinberg was a wizard at crafting illusions. He called his firm London Investors and kept plush offices on Long Island, in Melville, to inspire confidence. He said he represented interests in Switzerland, England and the Middle East. He was “the chairman,” and his colleague, an Englishwoman who added a touch of class (played by Amy Adams in “American Hustle”), was actually a housemaid and his mistress.

After decades as a scam artist, Mr. Weinberg was nabbed by the federal authorities in 1977. In exchange for probation and a salary and bonuses that netted him a total of $150,000, he agreed to create and run a series of stings that began with the recovery of stolen art and shifted to political corruption, with chilling scenes of greed and bribery played for hidden cameras.

Mr. Weinberg created a fake company, Abdul Enterprises (hence the contraction Abscam), with federal agents posing as sheikhs in Arab robes and kaffiyeh head scarves, with millions of dollars to buy political favors and invest in anything — a titanium mine, casino licenses, loans to the mob.

“We had a big honey pot, and all the flies came to it,” Mr. Weinberg later testified.

He played a shady middleman in the stings: a squat man with a gray beard, a gravelly voice and orange-tinted glasses. He coached potential bribe takers on how to impress a sheikh, suggested ways to make deals and laced his converstions with obscenity and authentic Bronx street talk. He waved a big cigar to show how easy it would all be.

Some politicians jumped at the chance to peddle their influence.

“I’ll give you Atlantic City — without me, you do nothing,” Mayor Angelo J. Errichetti of Camden, who was also a state senator and a political power in southern New Jersey, bragged of his contacts to arrange a casino license for a $50,000 kickback. The appreciative sheikh gave him the money and a gleaming “tribal” dagger as a gift. Mr. Weinberg had bought the dagger at a flea market for $2.75.

“I got larceny in my blood — I’ll take it in a goddamn minute,” Representative John W. Jenrette Jr. of South Carolina said when asked if he would take money to introduce a bill to let a wealthy Arab immigrate to the United States. He demanded $150,000 but settled for $50,000.

“Money talks in this business,” said Representative Michael J. Myers of Philadelphia, who took $50,000 to arrange permanent residence for a sheikh who wanted to look after his investments in the United States.

“I’m no Boy Scout,” Representative Raymond F. Lederer , also of Philadelphia, said when he accepted $50,000 to help a sheikh immigrate to escape trouble in his homeland.

Senator Williams, a champion of organized labor and social welfare, was Abscam’s biggest prize. He rejected a cash bribe. But five months later, he agreed to use his influence to obtain government contracts to buy the output of a Virginia titanium mine in which he had an 18 percent hidden interest. The sheikh, he was told, was willing to invest $100 million in the deal.

Mr. Weinberg was a star witness at bribery-conspiracy trials in Brooklyn, Washington and Philadelphia in 1980 and 1981. Besides Senator Williams, Mayor Errichetti and Representatives Jenrette, Myers and Lederer, the defendants included Representatives Frank Thompson of New Jersey, John Murphy of New York and Richard Kelly of Florida. All were Democrats except Mr. Kelly, a Republican.

Videotaped evidence shown to jurors on large courtroom monitors was overwhelming. Defense lawyers said their clients were victims of government entrapment, tricked into self-incriminating acts, but had no intent to commit crimes. The claims were overruled, and the convicted men lost appeals. They resigned or were expelled from office. The Justice Department later revised its guidelines for undercover operations to avoid future controversies.

Melvin Weinberg was born in the Bronx on Dec. 4, 1924, to Harry Weinberg and Helen (Jordon) Weinberg. He had two sisters, Marilyn and Sylvia. He attended P.S. 86, in the Kingsbridge Heights section, but dropped out of Samuel Gompers Industrial High School for Boys, now closed, in the Bronx in his first year.

Mr. Weinberg joined the Navy in 1942 and was a Seabee in the Pacific in World War II. After the war, he went to work in his father’s store, which sold plate glass. He drummed up business by smashing or acid-staining nearby store windows.

He married Mary O’Connor in 1944. The marriage ended in divorce in 1962. In 1963 he married Cynthia Marie Regan. She committed suicide in 1982. He then married Evelyn Knight. They divorced in 1998.

He is survived by a son from his second marriage, Melvin Jr.; a daughter from his first marriage, Debbie Hughes; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Two other children from his first marriage, Richard Weinberg and Donna Wandel, died before him.

In the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Weinberg prospered with his advance-fee con games for nonexistent loans. He used them in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Nevada, Tennessee and California. His victims included the singer Wayne Newton and the comedian Joey Bishop, who got “celebrity discounts.”

J. Karl Stark, a laundry owner in Pittsburgh, lost $3,750 to Mr. Weinberg in 1976, but said it was almost — though not quite — a privilege to be taken by him. “Oh, he was good,” Mr. Stark told The Times. “It was worth the money to watch him. He was very smooth. A real con artist.”

Mr. Weinberg’s luck appeared to run out in 1977. He was arrested on fraud and conspiracy charges, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh and was sentenced to three years in prison. But, offering expertise the government needed at the time, he talked his way out of it. Within weeks the sentence was cut to probation, and Mr. Weinberg became a well-paid F.B.I. undercover operative.

After the Abscam case, he worked as a private investigator in Miami for a dozen years. He retired in 1994. He later lived alone in Titusville. He always kept copies of the Abscam videotapes and said he enjoyed watching them occasionally until glaucoma caused his eyesight to begin failing.

Did he have any regrets? “Not really,” he said in a telephone interview for this obituary in 2017. “I’ve had a good life, a charmed life. I liked to gamble, but I’m blind and don’t gamble no more. I should have been dead a long time ago. I was around a lot of rough guys in my day, but they’re all gone now.”

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

By Jodine Mayberry

Launched in March 1978, the FBI sting operation known as Abscam led to the conviction of a U.S. senator, six congressmen, three Philadelphia City Council members, and the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, for taking bribes from undercover agents pretending to be the Arab sheiks. The FBI secretly filmed the transactions in hotel rooms in New York and Philadelphia, a yacht in Miami, and a mansion in Washington, D.C. The operation stunned Congress, led to widespread criticism of the Justice Department for engaging in “entrapment” tactics, and later inspired the 2013 film American Hustle .

Neil J. Welch, then head of the New York office of the FBI , and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Puccio directed the two-year sting operation using a convicted con man, Melvin Weinberg, and his girlfriend, Evelyn Knight, who were facing prison sentences for financial fraud, as informers and planners. Weinberg created a phony company, Abdul Enterprises, and FBI agents posed as owners or employees of the company. The FBI established a $1 million fund to pay out the bribes. Dressed as Arab sheiks or claiming to represent two Arab owners of Abdul Enterprises, agents met with their targets in New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Miami, and offered them envelopes or bags of cash in exchange for promises of political favors. All the while, the transactions were being videotaped by hidden cameras.

The Sting Changes Focus

Abscam started out as an operation to recover stolen artwork and fake securities, but when one of the stock forgers suggested to the “sheiks” that they focus on bribing New Jersey state officials to obtain a casino license, the FBI, following the money, shifted its focus to political corruption. Weinberg then spread the word among his criminal associates that the sheiks were looking to break into Atlantic City casino gambling. Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti , also a New Jersey state senator and a mover and shaker in New Jersey Democratic political circles, contacted Abdul Enterprises and told the undercover agents he could “deliver Atlantic City” for them. He then acted as a middleman, putting them in touch with the other politicians who eventually were caught up in the scheme.

When the scheme was first disclosed to the public, law enforcement authorities told reporters that Abscam stood for “Arab scam.” However, after a judge presiding over one of the cases received a complaint from the American-Arab Relations Committee, the judge said it was clear that the code name referred to “Abdul scam,” in reference to the name of the fake company, Abdul Enterprises.  No Middle Easterners were ever involved in the sting.

The accused went to trial in 1980. Eight politicians were tried in federal court in Brooklyn, two in Philadelphia, and two in Washington. In the case of U.S. Senator Harrison A. “Pete” Williams (D-N.J.), the highest-ranking political target, the “sheik” offered no money but instead offered to make him a silent partner with an eighteen-percent ownership of a titanium mine. Williams would be able to profit by steering government contracts to the mine in exchange for expediting the immigration process for the sheik and helping him get a piece of the casino construction and licensing action then underway in Atlantic City. Williams, of Westfield, New Jersey, later argued in his defense that he received no money, but he was convicted nevertheless.

U.S. Representative Frank Thompson (D.-N.J.), a well-liked politician who had represented Trenton and Mercer County for thirty-four years, accepted a cash bribe of $50,000, also to help the sheik bypass immigration laws. Congressman John M. Murphy (D.-N.Y.), who represented Staten Island, met with the sheik the same day as Thompson but was not videotaped. Instead, he sent his attorney, Howard Criden, to pick up his $50,000 bribe at a hotel near JFK International Airport. Other congressmen caught in the scheme, each taking a $50,000 bribe, were John Jenrette (D-S.C.), Richard Kelly (R-Fla.), and representatives from districts including parts of Philadelphia: Raymond Lederer (D.-Pa.) and Michael “Ozzie” Myers (D.-Pa.). Myers famously told the undercover agents as he accepted his bribe that they were going about it the right way because “money talks and bulls**t walks.”

Three Philadelphia City Council members, Council President George X. Schwartz, Harry P. Jannotti, and Louis C. Johanson, all Democrats, were convicted of accepting a total of $65,000 in bribes during separate meetings in a suite of the Barclay Hotel in Philadelphia. FBI agents, posing as the sheik’s representatives, told them he wanted to invest in a luxury hotel and coal facilities on the Delaware River, and they all promised to use their influence in City Council to get those projects approved. In all, 19 people were convicted as a result of Abscam, including Congressman Murphy’s attorney, Howard Criden; Alexander A. Alexandro Jr., an immigration official; and several businessmen. Among the convicted politicians, Florida Representative Kelly was the only Republican.

Two Congressmen Not Prosecuted

Two other members of Congress met with the sting operators but were not prosecuted. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who represented the 12th Congressional District in the coal country north of Pittsburgh, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. The U.S. Department of Justice chose not to indict him, and he testified against Thompson and Murphy. Murtha turned down the $50,000 bribe saying he would eventually take the money after working with the agents for a while but he was not interested “at this point.” He always said that his only intent in meeting with the scammers was to bring jobs to his district. Murtha was re-elected 19 times after Abscam. South Dakota U.S. Senator Larry Pressler , a Republican, met with the undercover agents in a mansion in Washington, D.C., at the behest of a neighbor. When they started talking about contributing to his campaign in exchange for help with the phony immigration matter, Pressler told them “it would not be proper” to accept the offer and left the meeting. Thus he committed no crime.

Williams resigned just before the U.S. Senate was scheduled to vote on his expulsion, and five of the six congressmen resigned to avoid expulsion. Myers was expelled by a vote of 376-30, becoming only the fourth member of Congress to suffer that fate. All were convicted of various charges and each was sentenced to three years in prison. Williams and Thompson served two years, Myers served 21 months, Kelly served 13 months, Murphy served 16 months, Jenrette served 13 months and Lederer served 10 months. Errichetti served all of the three years in prison while the Philadelphia C ity C ouncil members each served several months in jail . Several of the convicted politicians appealed on the basis that they were entrapped–tricked by the FBI into committing a crime they would not ordinarily have committed without the enticement. Philadelphia federal Judge John P. Fullam had set aside the convictions of City Councilmen Schwartz and Jannotti on grounds of entrapment and prosecutorial misconduct but the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling. Eventually, federal appeals courts either upheld or reinstated all of the convictions, and in 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review any of the Abscam convictions.

In the aftermath of Abscam, Congress was concerned about the damage it had caused to the reputation of the legislative branch and sought to prevent the FBI from undertaking similar projects in the future without strict supervision. In 1981, U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued the first of several guidelines for FBI undercover operations, formalizing agency procedures for such undertakings and Congress held several hearings exploring the issue of entrapment.

Jodine Mayberry is a retired journalist. She was a legal writer and editor for West Publications, a division of Thomson Reuters, for 18 years. (Author information current at time of publication.)

Copyright 2016, Rutgers University

The Barclay Hotel

PhillyHistory.org

The Barclay Hotel, shown here from the corner of Eighteenth Street and Rittenhouse Square in 1931, was where three Philadelphia City Council members—Council President George X. Schwartz, Harry P. Jannotti, and Louis C. Johanson, all Democrats—accepted a total of $65,000 in bribes during separate meetings in 1980. All three were convicted of extortion and conspiracy on May 23, 1980.

The Abscam investigation later came under criticism for excess involvement by government agents seeking to push bribes on public officials. Schwartz and Jannotti were initially convicted of the charges against them, but the District Court agreed with their assertion that they were entrapped and overturned their convictions. The Appellate Court later reversed the District Court's decision and reinstated the verdicts. The case finally reached the Supreme Court in mid-1982, and in the first high court ruling on Abscam, the court concurred with the Appellate Court's findings and let the convictions stand.

Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti

Courtesy of The Courtroom Sketches of Ida Libby Dengrove, University of Virginia Law Library

Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti, shown here in a courtroom sketch from 1982, also served as a New Jersey state senator and was a mover and shaker in New Jersey Democratic political circles. Errichetti contacted Abdul Enterprises and told the undercover agents he could “deliver Atlantic City” for them. He then acted as a middleman, putting them in touch with the other politicians who eventually became caught up in the scheme.

Immediately following his indictment of federal bribery, Errichetti denied the charges and refused to resign either of his elected positions. In 1981 Errichetti was convicted of federal bribery and served three years in prison. Errichetti did not reenter politics upon his release from prison. He died May 16, 2013, in Ventnor City, New Jersey.

Melvin Weinberg

Neil J. Welch, then head of the New York office of the FBI, and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Puccio directed the two-year sting operation that became known as Abscam. As informers and planners, they used a convicted con man, Melvin Weinberg, shown here in a courtroom sketch from the Abscam trial in 1981, and his girlfriend, Evelyn Knight, both of whom were facing prison sentences for financial fraud.

Weinberg created a phony company, Abdul Enterprises, and FBI agents posed as owners or employees of the company. The FBI established a $1 million fund to pay out the bribes. Dressed as Arab sheiks or claiming to represent two Arab owners of Abdul Enterprises, agents met with their targets in New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Miami, and offered them envelopes or bags of cash in exchange for promises of political favors.

Justice Department Prosecutor Thomas Puccio

Thomas P. Puccio, shown in the foreground, was the Justice Department prosecutor during the Abscam political corruption probe in the late 1970s. The trial ended with the convictions of seven U.S. lawmakers. Later in life Puccio became a trial lawyer representing the rich and famous in several high profile cases. One of these cases was the 1985 acquittal of the socialite Claus von Bulow, who previously had been convicted of attempting to murder his wife, heiress Martha “Sunny” von Bulow. Puccio was known for his aggressiveness in the courtroom and was successful as both a public and private attorney. Puccio died March 12, 2012, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Related Topics

• Greater Philadelphia
• Philadelphia and the Nation
• Corrupt and Contented

Time Periods

• Twentieth Century after 1945
• Camden, New Jersey
• Atlantic City, New Jersey
• City Councils (Philadelphia)

Related Reading

Greene, Robert W. The Sting Man, New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1982.

Hughes, Evan.  “ How Much of American Hustle Actually Happened ?”   Slate.com, December 12, 2013.

Kessler, Ronald. Inside Congress: The Shocking Scandals, Corruption, and Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill , New York: Pocket Books, 1998.

Sherman, Ted.  “ Jersey Hustle: The real-life story of Abscam .” NJ.com , November 25, 2013.

Related Collections

• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 601 Market Street, Philadelphia.
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, N.Y., and 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, N.Y.
• Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 40 Foley Square, New York, N.Y.;  and U.S. Supreme Court, 1 First St., N.E., Washington, D.C.

Related Places

• Barclay Hotel (site of some Abscam meetings)

Backgrounders

Connecting Headlines with History

• The real 'American Hustle': Abscam and its lasting impact on New Jersey (WHYY, December 16, 2013)
• Menendez is not first NJ senator to be indicted (WHYY, April 5, 2015)
• Philadelphia Inquirer Abscam Article Collection (Philly.com)
• American Hustle (Sony Pictures)
• How Much of American Hustle Actually Happened? (Slate Magazine)

Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy

Was American Hustle’s Abscam Operation a Real FBI Operation?

Directed by David O. Russell , ‘American Hustle’ is a 2013 black comedy movie with a star-studded cast. It follows the story of a skilled con artist Irving Rosenfeld ( Christian Bale ), who gets caught up with the FBI and is forced to run a series of sting operations for them. Aided by his girlfriend, Sydney Prosser ( Amy Adams ), he works with an overtly ambitious FBI Agent, Richie DiMaso ( Bradley Cooper )—the three start by planning cons to catch other low-level con artists like themselves.

However, eventually, the trio’s operation grows, and soon they find high-profile Congress members and dangerous mobsters involved. Their sting operation is dubbed Abscam Operation because of a fake Arab Sheikh that forms the basis of their long-con. The operation is just eccentric enough to make the audience wonder if such a plan could actually work in real life. If you want to know more about the Abscam Operation and its ties to reality, here is everything you should know. SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Abscam Operation Was an Actual Operation

Yes, ‘American Hustle’ took inspiration for its Abscam Operation plotline from a real FBI Operation of the same name. In the movie, Irving comes up with the idea to use an Arab Sheik as a honeypot to attract other con artists. Richie, the FBI Agent, poses as the advisor to a Sheikh who is an investor of Irving’s. The premise of the trap is simple, a Sheik looking to invest would make for an easy target for scammers to take advantage of. Once the scammers approach them and start doing business with them, Richie can catch the scammers in the act.

At first, Irving only uses this idea to trick some con artists into fulfilling his end of the bargain with the FBI. But when the opportunity to bust corrupt politicians presents itself, Richie jumps at it. The con steadily grows bigger and bigger until it becomes a full-fledged FBI Sting Operation called Abscam. The real-life Abscam Operation started in 1978 and became public knowledge in early 1980. In a series of sting operations, the FBI worked on catching felons and criminals that were involved in forgery and art theft.

Similar to the movie, the investigation led to the eventual unveiling and arrest of corrupt politicians and one mayor of New Jersey named Angelo J. Errichetti. Like Irving, the FBI also recruited the help of Mel Weinberg, a conman that offered his swindling expertise in exchange for probation. The sting operation had made for quite a spectacle in the late 70s, becoming one of the most extensive operations of its time. A 1981 book called ‘The Sting Man’ was written by Robert W. Greene that explored Mel Weinberg’s life and his involvement with the FBI.

The events of the movie’s Abscam Operations are based on a real FBI Operation, but with quite a few changes. Christian Bale’s character, Irving Rosenfeld, shares many similarities with Mel Weinberg, with both men showcasing streaks of fraudulence early on in their lives. Like Irving, his off-screen counterpart had a scammy loan business where he secured a hefty nonrefundable fee upfront before making fake promises of loan grants to people needing big money. After a few years of his con-based lifestyle, Weinberg was caught by the feds in 1977 and ended up helping them run sting operations.

Nevertheless, unlike Irving, the FBI paid Weinberg pretty handsomely for his work. Additionally, in the movie, the con artist’s partner in crime, and mistress, Sydney Prosser, plays a significant role in the events and decisions made during their investigation. She is also romantically involved with Richie and ultimately uses their relationship as a con against him. On the other hand, Sydney’s real-life counterpart, Evelyn Knight, never had much involvement in the FBI investigation in real life.

Similarly, Rosalyn— Irving’s wife— has a relationship with a mobster in the movie, which almost ruins the entire Abscam Operation. In real life, Weinberg’s then-wife, Marie Weinberg, did not get involved in the FBI investigations in any way. Lastly, Jeremy Renner’s character, Carmine, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, is loosely based on Angelo Errichetti . Like Carmine, Errichetti was an influential politician of his time who had a particular appeal among low-income crowds. Errichetti, too like Carmine, was arrested during the Abscam Operation.

Ultimately, the Abscam Operation though an actual operation done by the FBI, differs from the one portrayed in the movie in some places. The base idea is the same with agents posing as Arab Sheikhs to weed out corrupt officials and criminals— yet, ‘American Hustle’ paints the people involved in this scandal in an intentionally different light, one that is in accordance with the David O. Russell directorial’s narrative.

The real-life Abscam Operations yielded much of the same results as the movie. Still, the way ‘American Hustle’ portrays it as a single FBI agent’s sole ambition, though helpful to the film’s overall messaging, does not hold much historical accuracy. The actual Abscam Operation was a department-wide affair. Besides, it created a lot of controversy surrounding entrapment issues and ultimately changed the rules of undercover operations within the FBI. Furthermore, in reality, the Abscam Operation, on top of all its previously stated eccentricity, even involved a flamboyant party on a yacht— a wild detail that failed to make it into the movie.

Read More: Is American Hustle Based on a True Story?

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Jersey Hustle: The real-life story of Abscam

• Published: Nov. 25, 2013, 12:09 p.m.
• Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Abscam tv grab.JPG

A videotape played at the first Abscam trial on Oct. 14, 1980, showing Pennsylvania Congressman Michael "Ozzie" Myers accepting an envelope containing $50,000 from undercover FBI agent Anthony Amoroso. Looking on is Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti and con man Mel Weinberg.

The producers of " American Hustle " call it a work of fiction.

The film is already attracting Oscar buzz, described as “a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting ... hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes ...”

Directed by David O. Russell, “American Hustle” stars Christian Bale as a fast-talking con man being squeezed as an informer, and Bradley Cooper as the FBI agent who uses him.

But while names have been changed, and many of its characters transformed or wholly invented by the screenwriters, it is no secret that the highly awaited film, which opens later this month, is based on the infamous Abscam case.

The real story of Abscam, the sweeping and still controversial federal corruption investigation that played out from Jersey to Florida in the late 1970s and early 1980s, turned out to be far more bizarre and outrageous than anything Hollywood could ever imagine.

The elaborate sting ensnared seven members of Congress, including six in the House of Representatives and a veteran U.S. Senator, along with a powerful New Jersey state legislator, three Philadelphia councilmen and a number of high-level political operatives. Abscam involved phony, oil-rich Arab sheiks with suitcases full of cash, stolen artwork, payoffs for Atlantic City casino licenses and backroom influence peddling that generated worldwide headlines and set off political shockwaves for years thereafter.

The undercover probe, which came to light in February 1980, ultimately led to the convictions of Sen. Harrison A. Williams (D-N.J.), Camden Democratic Mayor Angelo Errichetti, New Jersey Democratic Congressman Frank Thompson Jr., and other lawmakers, who were caught on secretly recorded surveillance video accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.

It was a sting that still enrages defense attorneys who say it was based on crimes the government itself created. Sharply criticized by one federal district judge who accused the government of using “outrageous” tactics, the affair was flatly labeled a case of prosecutorial misconduct by a former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

But it was an enterprise that rewrote the books for FBI undercover operations and led to more than a dozen criminal convictions and rejected appeals.

At the center of it all was an unrepentant, cigar-chomping Runyonesque swindler from Long Island by the name of Mel Weinberg. Barely controlled by his FBI handlers, he helped orchestrate the sting operation. Unscrupulous in every way, Weinberg had the kind of chutzpah that would enable him to convince his marks, even after inadvertently arranging for delivery of heaping hot corned beef sandwiches and coleslaw to a payoff meeting with an FBI undercover agent posing as an Arab prince, that an emir from the Middle East could love Jewish deli food.

Weinberg, now near 90 and living in Florida, chortles with delight when asked about the corned beef on rye. “Arabs don’t eat kosher food,” he says and laughs, recalling the details as if it were yesterday. “I couldn’t believe what was going on. I said to myself, ‘If we get away with this, we can get away with anything.’”

He makes no excuses about his reputation as a swindler. “I did run cons, no doubt about it,” he admits. “But that’s how they got Abscam started.”

Con man and FBI informant Mel Weinberg on April 7, 1981.

According to former FBI agent John Good, who masterminded the two-year sting, Abscam grew out of a routine inquiry into white-collar crime on Long Island. At the time, he recently had been reassigned from the FBI’s Manhattan office to Long Island. Good was in the midst of an ongoing inquiry into alleged payoffs to party bosses in Suffolk County during the construction of the $640-million Southwest Sewer District project, but he was under mounting pressure from his bosses to develop more major cases.

“I made it mandatory that guys develop, or make an attempt to develop, more confidential sources,” Good explains.

That’s about when Weinberg turned up on the radar.

Mel Weinberg had been running quick-buck schemes all his life, ranging from insurance fraud to investment scams, and spending his ill-gotten gains as fast as he took them in — not only on the props needed to make his act convincing, such as chartered jets and chauffeured limousines, but also on women, the horses and expensive booze. He lived on the edge, balancing a wife, a mistress, the mob, the feds and the people he gleefully swindled, as he jetted from Europe to the Caribbean to South America, working the next big scheme, according to the book “The Sting Man” by the late Newsday investigative reporter Robert W. Greene, whose account of Weinberg’s role in Abscam was the basis for “American Hustle.”

“Mel was a fabulous con man,” says Good. “He was a very, very intelligent guy. A little on the crude side, but with a magnificent ability to con people. He was a significant part of the case. Without him, it’s unlikely we ever would have had a case.”

Weinberg dreamed big and it was only after setting up one of his more elaborate scams that he finally was nabbed by the FBI.

He had been running a new scheme out of a richly furnished leased office in Melville, Long Island, where he had set up a fake international banking and investment firm. He called it London Investors and had bogus agents in Zurich, London and New York. London Investors held itself out as a facilitator for offshore financing, targeting desperate businessmen unable to obtain loans from conventional banks. It was really a “front-end” or advance-fee operation.

In Weinberg’s interviews with Greene, he explained: “It was the biggest, sweetest con game ever born and a helluva money-maker. ... I was very democratic. No matter who sent ’em, I scammed ’em.”

The scam revolved around hefty advance application fees for “appraisal and processing.” That was the front end. But there was no money at the back end of the pipeline. Weinberg would take the fees and then stall for months, sometimes generating more charges, until a letter came from the supposed offshore bank rejecting the loan application. In most cases, the victims did not even realize they had been scammed.

But Weinberg’s luck ran out in 1977, when a Pittsburgh real estate man taken in by the scam went to the FBI. A federal grand jury soon indicted the Bronx-born hustler for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.

It seemed the end of the line for Weinberg. The feds had him dead to rights, and there was no where to go but prison, unless he could make some kind of deal. That’s when Good — looking for an opening to break new major crime cases on Long Island — stumbled across Weinberg by chance. The Pittsburgh office had sent a routine FBI interoffice memo summarizing the case against Weinberg to the field office in Hauppauge. Although the criminal complaint had originated in Pittsburgh, London Investors had been operating in Good’s backyard, so the FBI supervising agent was alerted. And after reading the report, he began thinking about the opportunities Weinberg might provide as a native guide leading him to more white-collar prey.

He just might, Good mused, make for a pretty effective informant.

“Mel Weinberg and I had met and he agreed to cooperate and he began working with us,” Good says. “One thing led to another, and we had the potential for a major undercover operation.”

And that, he says, is how Abscam was born.

Robert Del Tufo, former U.S. Attorney of New Jersey.

From the start, Weinberg was an enthusiastic participant. Put on a monthly allowance, with bonuses for every case he made, he did what he did best — he worked as a con man — for the FBI. But the agency wasn’t targeting politicians at first, says Good. “We never had any idea it was going to evolve into that.”

For months, the focus of the operation was on bringing down others working the same type of scams Weinberg had been working. Always ready with a story, the informant himself came up with yet another scam.

“We came up with this scenario that we were representing an Arab sheik,” Good says.

The idea was to dangle the promise of big money from some OPEC-nation Arab investors with deep pockets, who were ripe for the taking. As a cover, in case anyone checked their backstory, the FBI created a company called Abdul Enterprises Ltd., to represent the interests of the fictitious Kambir Abdul Rahman, supposedly a fabulously wealthy Arab businessman tied to royalty.

Weinberg was president of the company. The FBI special agents assigned to the case took on aliases and corporate titles in the hoax company, including undercover operative Anthony Amoroso, who became “Tony DeVito,” serving as Abdul’s “personal construction engineer.” A bank was recruited to vouch for Sheik Rahman’s wealth. A second sheik, Yassir Habib, was later introduced, and produced, when the FBI brought in an agent of Lebanese descent to play him. It was at that point the FBI operation finally took on a name, based on Abdul and scam. It became known as Abscam.

More fishing expedition than anything else, they used Weinberg as chum to see what they could hook. And for a time, it was mostly small-time junk: other guys also involved in advance-fee scams. Stolen securities. The peddling of fraudulent certificates of deposit. After it was revealed that the sheiks wanted to invest oil money in valuable artworks, the FBI arrested several individuals dealing in stolen art and recovered two 17th-century paintings missing since 1966 and estimated to be worth $1 million.

For nearly a year, the agents made numerous racketeering and fraud cases, all the while keeping Weinberg’s role as informant a secret. But there soon came a turning point in the investigation when one of the many middlemen lured by the smell of Arab money — a convicted swindler named William Rosenberg who had already done time for stock fraud — approached Weinberg with a deal involving the port of Camden, and the city’s dapper mayor, Angelo Errichetti, who Rosenberg intimated was on the take.

Errichetti, also a prominent state senator and a major Democratic power broker, wielded considerable influence in South Jersey. He was said to have connections with state regulators overseeing the casino boom of Atlantic City, where all development was contingent on the awarding of gaming licenses. A meeting was arranged with Weinberg and on Dec. 1, 1978, the mayor arrived at the office of Abdul Enterprises in Long Island.

Angelo Errichetti, former mayor of Camden, on Jan. 1, 1978.

Weinberg says he liked Errichetti a lot.

"He was a nice guy. But he was just an unbelievable crook. He had no fear," he says. According to surveillance tapes of the meeting with Errichetti, the South Jersey politician made it clear he could deliver. "I'll give you Atlantic City," he said. "Without me, you do nothing." He claimed he had influence with the state's Casino Control Commission and its vice chairman, his good friend Kenneth N. MacDonald.

Good says they gave him cash and he walked away with it.

“The politicians were just unbelievably unethical and ruthless,” he says.

Errichetti was charged later with promising to seek to obtain a casino license for Abdul Enterprises in return for an immediate payment of $25,000 and a total payment of $400,000.

The approach to Errichetti shifted Abscam into a major political corruption investigation, using the mayor as the critical go-between to even bigger fish that ran all the way to Capitol Hill. At one meeting with Weinberg and the agents, Errichetti said he knew congressmen willing to take bribes. The names of Raymond F. Lederer and Michael Myers, both of Philadelphia, would later come up.

And the list quickly grew. There was Rep. Frank Thompson Jr. of Trenton, a tall, silver-haired man who had served in Congress since 1955 and had been a political ally of John F. Kennedy. Thompson served as chairman of the powerful House Administration Committee. Democratic Congressmen John M. Murphy of Staten Island and John Jenrette of South Carolina, along with Republican Richard Kelly of Florida. And Senator Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey.

The FBI arranged meetings at airports, in a rented home in Washington, in Atlantic City hotel rooms, offices on Long Island and in Florida. They arranged for chartered jets, limos and parties. The team later even acquired a yacht, seized by U.S. Customs in a drug bust, to hold parties with politicians. The 65-foot Cheoy Lee motor yacht, decked in teak, was fitted with video and audio surveillance gear that could pick up and record conversations anywhere on board.

“Tony (DeVito, played by Amoroso) loved that boat,” says Weinberg. “When it came time to name it, he said, ‘I’m left-handed. Let’s call it Left Hand.’ I told him, ‘Tony, left hand means the Mafia.’ He put it on anyway.”

The script for most was remarkably similar. When Lederer, a Democrat from Philadelphia first elected to Congress in 1976, knocked on the door of room 717 of the Hilton Inn at Kennedy International Airport on a Tuesday evening, Errichetti was there waiting for him with Weinberg, and other undercover FBI agents posing as representatives of the fictitious sheik. The meeting was videotaped. It was explained that the sheik was looking for a sponsor in case he needed help getting into the country one day.

Amoroso explained later that he came up with the immigration ruse after reading a newspaper story about possible deportation problems facing deposed Nicaragua dictator Anastasio Somoza.

“I understand you can introduce legislation,” said DeVito, the conversation recorded and later played back before a federal jury.

“Right, a bill. Private bill,” agreed Lederer. “Sure.”

The congressman left the hotel with a brown bag containing $50,000 in cash. "Spend it well," DeVito told him.

Michael “Ozzie” Myers, a former longshoreman with a vocabulary to match, brought one of the most memorable quotes to the sting operation when the issue of special legislation was introduced.

“I’m gonna tell you something real simple and short: Money talks in this business and bullshit walks. And it works the same way down in Washington,” he said. Before he left, he too, was given an envelope containing $50,000 in $100 bills.

DeVito again repeated his signature line. “Spend it well,” the undercover agent said.

Sen. Harrison A. Williams on July 28, 1981.

Harrison A. Williams was considered the biggest prize of the FBI investigation. A long-time member of Congress who served more than two decades in the U.S. Senate, Williams was a liberal Democrat known as a tough legislator and champion of organized labor and social welfare programs who authored federal laws protecting pension rights and the first law providing mass transportation assistance to states. Known as “Pete” to his friends, Williams was low-key with a ready smile who served as a Navy pilot in World War II and later graduated from Columbia Law School.

But the FBI had learned Williams had a hidden interest in a titanium mining venture in Piney River, Va., and close associates of the senator were informed that Sheik Habib was willing to lend $100 million in exchange for using his influence to obtain government contracts for the mine’s output.

The subsequent meeting produced one of the most spellbinding images of the investigation, when surveillance video was presented at the trial of the senator. The “sheik” was played by Richard Farhart, an FBI agent brought in from the Ohio office, who wore an Arab headdress and a suit, but said little during his meetings with Williams. Also there was Errichetti.

“You know what you could do and what not,” DeVito told him. “Based on that, I’ve explained it to the sheik and this is what we’ve really based our strength on, the strength that you have.”

Williams turned to the sheik. “If this can be put together, in my position with, within the government here, which goes back decades, and knowing as I do the people that make the decisions, with, when we’ve got it together, we move.”

In another meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York, Williams also assured the sheik he would help him gain permanent residency.

“You can leave with my assurance that I will do those things that will, will bring you on for the consideration of permanency,” he said.

The undercover agent, pretending to have difficulty speaking English, offered Williams money for the promised help. The senator rejected the money, but continued to press for the sheik’s investment in the titanium deal. “My interest is with my associates — to see this very valuable mining area appropriately developed,” he said as the conversation was being recorded on surveillance tape.

By now, the case was being directed by the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn, headed by federal prosecutor Thomas P. Puccio. But not everyone in law enforcement was pleased with the direction the case was taking. The U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, Robert Del Tufo, had been briefed early in the matter when Puccio called to tell him that Errichetti and McDonald had been drawn into an undercover sting.

“It sounded like they were making great cases,” says Del Tufo, who would later become state attorney general and now is an attorney in private practice at the New York City firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Del Tufo assigned a number of deputies to the case, including Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Plaza, to work with Puccio’s office. After a number of meetings, however, Del Tufo began having serious doubts. “We weren’t getting information. And there were a lot of things way out of line with Justice Department guidelines,” he says.

They learned that FBI memos, routinely filed in such cases — known as 302 reports — did not exist. And that Weinberg was getting a bounty for each case he made.

Plaza, now an attorney in private practice in Red Bank, called Abscam a seriously flawed case. “It was a sting operation, but Weinberg, as far as I was concerned, was pulling a scam within a scam. He was scamming the government officials trying to monitor the operation,” he says.

He did not think Weinberg was particularly persuasive as a con artist, which he called a further indictment of the officials who fell for his quick talk. But more troubling to him was his discovery that Weinberg was coaching the targets of the investigation on what to say, suggesting specific language that would ensure an indictment.

"He would tell them there is an 'Arab way' to do business," Plaza says. They would be told to make themselves sound important, because the sheik would be more willing to invest if he knew politicians were involved — that's how things got done in the Middle East. "I told Mel, 'You can't do this. You can't be putting words in people mouths.'" says Plaza. "Mel said if he didn't do it that way, 'Then we won't have any cases.'"

The attorney says that the elected officials pulled into Abscam disgraced themselves. “But the question was, what was really taking place? Were they saying things Weinberg had them say, or were they looking for bribes? It was difficult to figure out,” Plaza says.

Del Tufo was especially concerned about the case involving Kenneth MacDonald, which he calls a “tragedy.” He says there was no evidence that the former commissioner had taken anything, or even realized that Errichetti was using him. But, he adds, Puccio refused to back down.

When Del Tufo was pressured to convene a grand jury for Errichetti and the others, he refused. His objections were later dismissed by higher-ups at the Justice Department and the cases were handled out of Brooklyn and Philadelphia. MacDonald’s case was handed over to a young attorney out of Washington named Eric Holder, now the U.S. Attorney General, but it never went to trial. Stricken with cancer, MacDonald died still seeking exoneration.

MacDonald's attorney, Justin Walder of Roseland, calls him one of Abscam's victims. "Ken MacDonald was an innocent man who asked for nothing, received nothing, and engaged in no improper conduct. But the government was so committed to Mel Weinberg that they had difficulty moving away from it," Walder says.

To this day, Del Tufo remains angry about how it all came down, especially the accusations that he was protecting Williams because the senator allegedly nominated him to become U.S. Attorney — something that was not true.

“Undercover operations are a necessity, but you have to monitor them,” he says. “You don’t just turn someone like Weinberg loose.”

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence, star in "American Hustle," which producers describe as a work of fiction.

Abscam became public in February 1980, when details of the still ongoing investigation were leaked to the media. According to Weinberg, Puccio — who denied being the source — allowed a New York Times reporter to see the criminal complaints.

In the following months, Williams, Thompson and the other members of Congress ensnared by the sting were indicted. And in time, all were convicted, as were three Philadelphia councilmen, Errichetti and several political operatives with ties to Williams and Errichetti.

Many are now dead. Lederer, convicted of conspiracy and bribery, served 10 months in prison. He died in 2008 at the age of 70. Re-elected while under indictment, he resigned from Congress the day after the House Ethics Committee voted to expel him.

Thompson served almost two years in federal prison. He died in 1989 at the age of 70.

Richard Kelly, the only Republican nabbed in Abscam and who claimed he had accepted $25,000 in cash as part of his own investigation of corruption, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy. His conviction was subsequently thrown out by U.S. District Judge William B. Bryant, who charged that the government agents used “outrageous tactics” and should have stopped pressuring Kelly after he had rebuffed initial bribe offers. His conviction was reinstated on appeal.

Errichetti served nearly three years in prison. “I can only blame myself for the tremendous ego I developed, the kind of ego that gets a politician into trouble,” he said after his release. The former Camden mayor later worked as a consultant in real estate, and died this past May at his home in Ventnor. He was 84.

Williams, sentenced to three years in prison, fought his expulsion from the Senate in an effort to show he was a victim of FBI misconduct. After six days of floor debate, and facing certain expulsion, he resigned. In his farewell to the chamber, the senator said, “I believe time, history and the Almighty God will vindicate me and the principles for which I have fought here in the Senate.”

The senator died in 2001 at the age of 81.

Puccio, who went on to gain a reputation as the go-to defense attorney in many high-profile cases, last year succumbed to complications from leukemia. He was 67. Good, 77, is now a partner in the Babylon, N.Y., security and investigations firm of Lawn, Mullen & Good. He retired from the FBI in 1986 as supervisor of the Hauppauge office after spending 30 years with the bureau. He served as a consultant for "American Hustle."

The FBI agent, played in the film by Bradley Cooper, is not based on any one guy, Good says. But Christian Bale, the Welsh-born actor from "Return of the Dark Knight," plays Weinberg, who says he also was a consultant on the film and spent three days with Bale. "Nice guy, but I'm from the Bronx and he's from England," says Weinberg. "That's Hollywood."

Weinberg now lives on the Space Coast of Florida, not far from the Kennedy Space Center. Nearly blind from macular degeneration, he remains sharp at the age of 89, able to recall even the smallest detail of Abscam.

“It was so easy,” he says of the investigation. “But it could never happen again.”

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FBI's Abscam Videos Are As Unbelievable As 'American Hustle'

Peter Overby

The Oscar contender is loosely based on the Abscam sting, which nailed a senator and six House members on corruption charges. The FBI videotaped some Hollywood-worthy scenes.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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Russian Billionaire Jets, Superyachts Roam Free Amid Attack

• Some planes flew in and out of Moscow with invasion underway
• Abramovich is scrutinized for owning football club Chelsea

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s yacht, the Eclipse.

For all the talk of sanctions on Russia and its elite, the status symbols of the billionaire class remain free to roam the skies and the seas.

Russia’s ultra-rich are among the biggest owners of private jets and superyachts, two of the most opulent displays of massive wealth.

• #donaldtrump
• #kamalaharris
• #election2024
• #springfield
• #2024election
• #immigration
• #openthread

Russian stuff blowing up: Moscow yacht club goes up in flames

Big ammo dump bavovna

🔥 Explosion of a russian ammunition depot. Pokrovsk direction. pic.twitter.com/Oc9BaqcsHD — ✙ Albina Fella ✙ 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪🇵🇱🇺🇸🇨🇦🇦🇺 (@albafella1) June 22, 2024

Smoke on the water, the fire in the sky.

Yachts go up in smoke. Could be sabotage or could be insurance fraud or could be another careless smoker.

“ARSON in a yacht club near Moscow. More than a dozen yachts and boats burned downs.” – Baza 👉 Russian ships are racing to join the Moskva. pic.twitter.com/VeErNGzT6s — Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) June 21, 2024

Sucks when you can’t even get a moped through with a six-pack of water.

The whole road is about 15 km and you can take dozens of similar photos on it. Thanks to the successful operation of drones, Russians are sitting in tree lines and  forests with a minimum of ammunition, food and water. There were cases when we destroyed a moped with which Russians tried to bring a pack of 6 bottles of water to the position.”

Bukhanka graveyard on the Kharkiv front: “The cutting of Russian logistical routes is probably one of the key reasons why Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region got bogged down. In one photo there are 5 burnt Bukhankas. The whole road is about 15 km and you can take dozens of… pic.twitter.com/j1xeg4tOhr — Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) June 22, 2024

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

🔞 Kadyrovite beats Kadyrovite. Education in the ruzzian army. pic.twitter.com/Z43RJsd2c2 — ✙ Albina Fella ✙ 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪🇵🇱🇺🇸🇨🇦🇦🇺 (@albafella1) June 22, 2024

Speaking of declining morale.

According to "The Northern Channel", Russian military police have been detached to the northern Kharkiv front to suppress defections and that the highest risk of deserters is in the area of #Hyboke north of #Lyptsi where the AFU is making gains. "The military police arrived… pic.twitter.com/iiP6n69EyJ — OSINT (Uri Kikaski) 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@UKikaski) June 18, 2024

Russia continues to round up migrants workers for cannon fodder duty in Ukraine.

Barnaul is in Siberia south of Novosibirsk.

Russia: FSB conducted a massive raid, lining up over 200 people outside night clubs and bars in Barnaul, near Novosibirsk. Some were severely beaten and gunshots were also heard. pic.twitter.com/GnCigcBE8S — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) June 22, 2024

45 migrants were forced at gunpoint to sit under the scorching sun This is how Russian law enforcers conducted another raid on migrants at a construction site in Voronezh. Those who are found to have a Russian passport are often taken to the military recruitment center. pic.twitter.com/vIDBiSWGRH — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 22, 2024

It’s basically an armored taxi.

In this video a Ukrainian soldier breaks down why this T-62 is a pile of shit.

The Ukrainian Army released an extensive video of the infamous Russian turtle tanks. They are far worse than expected. Underneath that garbage is an old T-62M. The gun is not operational, there is no ammunition and the turret is locked in place. The panels are sheet metal… pic.twitter.com/s33mm5zg5w — (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) June 22, 2024

Another 1,110 Russian soldiers.

Russian losses per 22/06/24 reported by the Ukrainian general staff +1110 men +8 tanks +11 APVs +28 artillery pieces +15 UAVs +4 cruise missiles pic.twitter.com/5Ul2ZRCfB0 — NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) June 22, 2024

At least 4 285 Russian officers have been eliminated in Ukraine, +27 since last update. Minimum losses since 24 February 2022. Each name is confirmed by a Russian source via funeral notices, obituaries, graves, news platforms, monuments and memorial plaques. pic.twitter.com/KDBMXg72CZ — KIU ✪ Russian Officers killed in Ukraine 🇨🇿🇺🇦 (@KilledInUkraine) June 22, 2024

It reminds me of the old German V1 rocket

Breaking: Nikolayevsky Vanekreported reported on his TG Channel that the AFU has recovered remnants of an Iranian Atash-1/2 jet-powered OWUAV which was shot down and crash-landed near the town of #Ochakiv , Mykolaiv Oblast. The Atash drones are jet powered and appear to be cruise… pic.twitter.com/pk86jtAGin — OSINT (Uri Kikaski) 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@UKikaski) June 22, 2024

Russians continue to shell Kharkiv.

The Russians dropped 4 x FAB UMPC's on the center of Kharkiv earlier today. Currently, there are 2 dead and 23 injured but the debris are still being cleared to search for more victims. #OSINT #UkraineWar #UkraineKrieg #Ukraine #Russia #NAFO REPOST APPRECIATED!!! pic.twitter.com/TjhXf2BNnu — OSINT (Uri Kikaski) 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@UKikaski) June 22, 2024

The moment of the guided aerial bomb hit in Kharkiv The number of wounded has increased to 37. https://t.co/CTXKu85FC3 pic.twitter.com/1lduAfIJ3S — Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) June 22, 2024

No, no, no. We weren’t trying to hit the residential building. We were trying to hit the hospital.

Russian propagandists now claim their target in Kharkiv was not a residential building but a police hospital. Their open admission of calls for war crimes is truly outrageous. Watch this and imagine it’s your Saturday afternoon pic.twitter.com/tP2BLSUoT8 — Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) June 22, 2024

Well, what can ya do? You can’t hide in your basement 24/7.

Residents of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv shock with their calmness People continue to relax by the pool while explosions are heard on the horizon. A residential apartment building was damaged as a result of the attack. 18 people were injured, 2 dead. pic.twitter.com/NjgwsCbIGz — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 22, 2024

Russia not only commits war crimes like bombing a school, they posted video about it.

Russian sources are posting a video of what they describe as the "second use" of a FAB-3000 M-54 S UMPC in the #Liptsy area. Geolocation: 50.193348, 36.436196 The structure is the Slobozhanskaya School which is closed as civilians have been evacuated from the entire area. The… pic.twitter.com/2GUgssOi5I — OSINT (Uri Kikaski) 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@UKikaski) June 21, 2024

This attack is in Ivano-Frankivsk, which is southeast of Lviv in western Ukraine.

The aftermath of the night attack on Ivano-Frankivsk Oil and Gas University In addition, 14 buildings, a lyceum, a kindergarten were damaged in the city. pic.twitter.com/Iz5WRyGRxZ — Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) June 22, 2024

In  this video  a Russian soldier is wounded by an FPV drone. While he is lying in the road and his comrade walks up to him, he motions to his head. His comrade then finishes him off with a shot to the head.

Life is brutal in the Russian Army.

You can believe that this is the result of climate change if you like, but clearly this is the wrath of God at work. Expect to see locust swarms and frogs next.

🌪️ Russia: Tornadoes in Moscow injured over 40 people. Experts say the frequency and intensity of the phenomenon is increasing due to climate change. pic.twitter.com/KjpDe2Qd8t — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) June 21, 2024

Lukashenko says being president of Belarus is “fiddle-faddle” and that he dreams of milking cows.

Lukashenko told how he milks cows in his dreams. Also, during a visit to a dairy complex, he said the best job is in agriculture, and the presidency is fiddle-faddle. pic.twitter.com/AwpScZES7F — Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 22, 2024

This is why Ukraine will eventually win.

A Russian drone was taken out by Ukrainian EW, local people grabbed it and repaired it and sent it to the ukrainian army. Hah. pic.twitter.com/CRN6SgE3Vy — Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) June 22, 2024

Rest in peace.

💔 In Kherson region, our colleague Oleksandr Chekhun was killed in an enemy attack while on duty at a checkpoint As a result of a Russian drone attack, an inspector of the patrol police response sector of the Kherson Police Department No. 1, a senior police lieutenant, was… pic.twitter.com/GTX7nTxG7a — Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) June 22, 2024

No peppers? No green beans?

Because they are #Ukrainians ❗️😜🤣 The Ukrainian military man showed his trenches, where onions, cucumbers, dill , tomatoes are planted evenly and neatly... This nation cannot be defeated❗️☝️ pic.twitter.com/aeLupjZMbu — Olena_Wave🇺🇦 (@OlenaWave) June 22, 2024

Life goes on in Kyiv.

One more video from the festival in Kyiv for you. To tell you the truth, I meant to walk in the botanical garden and enjoy the nature. But it was a festival there 🙈 oops. Perhaps you will ask why the girls put the ribbons on the tree. I don’t know. Maybe it is some tradition… pic.twitter.com/tMaoP68LGa — Yaroslava Antipina (@strategywoman) June 22, 2024

Soledar needs a new home.

Meet Soledar, a cat who lost his home in the bombed city he’snamed after. Now he lives at a military strongpoint, nestled btwn tires, with 80th Brigade soldiers as family. Stressed by constant shelling, he needs evacuation from frontline. This war cat seeks a peaceful home. pic.twitter.com/ddyMNLyIRj — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 22, 2024

Man’s best friend and his backup vocals.

Peaceful night to all good people 😴💤 And let Russia burn. pic.twitter.com/Vy9PCw1QJU — 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 | 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@tweetforAnna) June 21, 2024