sep 4, 1872 - Congressional Investigation

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In 1872, the House of Representatives submitted the names of nine politicians to the Senate for investigation:
Representative William B. Allison of Iowa,
Former Senator James A. Bayard Jr. of Delaware,
Former Representative George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts (then serving as United States Secretary of the Treasury),
Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York,
Senator James Harlan of Iowa (retiring),
Senator John Logan of Illinois,
Representative James W. Patterson of New Hampshire,
Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, also Grant's current running mate for Vice President,
and Vice President Schuyler Colfax.

Ultimately, Congress investigated 13 of its members including Oakes Ames and James Brooks, a Democrat from New York.

Called before a Congressional investigative committee led by Vermonter Luke Poland, Ames insisted that the stock exchanges had been a matter between friends and therefore not illegal. Under this pretense, he agreed to name stock recipients. Seeing that he was being made a scapegoat, Ames produced his ledger of names and amounts. "Ames had been bullied and badgered till his patience and good nature were exhausted," wrote a friend.

The Republican-led committee chose to "only to punish Ames himself and James Brooks -- the sole Democrat -- with congressional censure." The committee concluded that Ames had brought "contempt and disgrace" upon Congress and tainted the legislative process through his criminal bribery. Despite this damning assessment, the Poland Committee opted not to admonish those who had accepted bribes willingly. Furthermore, neither Durant nor any of Ames's associates were held accountable for their actions. Only a final-minute intervention by Congress prevented Oakes Ames from being expelled. Following his censure, he returned to Massachusetts where he died of a stroke in May, 1873.

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