On 22 August 1979 Myers met the operatives at a hotel near JFK airport and accepted $50,000. He promised to help the sheikh with immigration, introduced the idea of influence with other officials and delivered the line that would follow him for the rest of his life: “Money talks in this business and bullshit walks.” He kept $15,000; middlemen took the rest. [1]
The steelman for Myers is the one he gave. He said he was playacting: the sheikh was a mark, he was taking money from a fool and never meant to do anything. The appeals court answered that selling a promise of official help is bribery even if the seller secretly plans to cheat the buyer. [4]
The House ethics committee heard the same argument and rejected it. On 2 October 1980 the House expelled him 376–30. He was the first member expelled since three were expelled in 1861 for joining the Confederacy. [3]
He was sentenced on 13 August 1981 to three years and a $20,000 fine. [2]
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