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To the Journal editor:
Corruption in politics generally means using elected office for private gain. We have seen stories of President Trump's corruption in the news nearly every day. The fact that his reported income rose by more than $2 billion last year leads reasonable people to believe that he has gained personally from his position.
President Trump's scandals have been related to bribery, nepotism and cronyism, misappropriation of funding approved by Congress to serve his personal interests, extortion and accepting personal gifts that could influence governmental decision.
A case in point is Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman. A report by the Interlochen Public Radio station on March 4 titled, "California couple gives six-digit check to northern Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman," shows how he is connected.
The story by Maxwell Howard of IPR begins, "Last year, northern Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman received one the of the largest individual donations given to a Michigan congressional candidate." It goes on to explain a little about the history of Bergman's relationship with Elliott Broidy.
You might remember Broidy's name from the testimony that lawyer Michael Cohen gave in court several years ago in connection with Trump's alleged affairs with Stephanie Clifford (a/k/a Stormy Daniels) and Karen McDougal prior to his first election. Cohen reported that he also served as the "fixer" for a Republican fundraiser named Elliott Broidy who paid a woman to not disclose their affair.
Broidy is described in Wikipedia as the founder of Markstone Capital Partners in 2002, "a private equity firm investing in Israeli companies." Mr. Broidy had provided $1 million in illegal gifts to New York State pension authorities, and in exchange, the state pension fund invested $250 million with Markstone Capital Partners. He resigned in 2009 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and paying $18 million in restitution to the state of New York. In 2020, Mr. Broidy pled guilty for breaking laws related to foreign influence in politics.
This is where Bergman comes into the story. He was one of three congressmen who wrote a letter asking President Trump to pardon Mr. Broidy. Mr. Broidy was pardoned on Jan. 20, 2021, the day that Trump left office after his first term.
According to IPR, Mr. Broidy and his wife became Bergman's biggest individual contributors to his campaign. Their initial donation of $289,100 to the Bergman Victory Committee in 2025 was reported as coming from Mr. Broidy's wife, Robin Rosensweig. Documents reviewed by IPR indicate that a later report to the Federal Communications Commission shows the donation was split equally between Mr. Broidy and his wife.
After his pardon, Broidy formed a new company which received a $106 million federal contract in April 2026 from the Department of Justice to develop AI for surveillance of phone calls of people incarcerated in federal prisons. Bergman also has been accused of a scheme to assist two of his Congressional employees to run a consulting business, according to a Detroit News story on May 8. By changing the structure of their pay to lower their salaries and compensate them with bonuses, Bergman enabled them to exceed outside income limits and avoid reporting requirements for taxpayer funded congressional employees.
A retired judge and a retired Navy chaplain from Traverse City filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee about Bergman's involvement. We deserve to know the results of the investigation before we vote in the midterm elections on Nov. 3, but Congress is in recess so that will not happen.
As citizens, we have a responsibility to use our vote to stop corruption in our government. We can do this by voting for Callie Barr to represent us in Congress. She is a person with integrity who understands that elected officials have a duty to serve their communities, not themselves.