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133: Red Handed pt.1: Money Talks

Updated: Dec 4, 2025


Would you commit a crime if you thought you would never get caught? If you thought everyone was doing it? If there were no victims, just some light corruption? Maybe not, but what if the government compelled you to do it? This week, Maia dives into the anti-corruption operation the Federal government ran known as ABSCAM with the help of known con artist Melvin Weinberg. Dozens of politicians get swept up in corruption charges, and some were clearly better at committing crime than others. In an effort to root out corruption one has to ask... does this bribe make me look fat? This week, on Well, I Laughed: Money Talks


Chapters

00:00:00 Catch-Up

00:13:36 Money Talks

00:25:01 Shenanigans

00:39:18 ABSCAM is Born

00:55:01 Definitions

00:58:14 Accidentally Political

01:26:48 Breaking the Story

01:35:15 In Court

01:43:09 Sting v Entrapment

01:46:56 Legacy

01:51:44 Mel Weinberg



Sources


1 Comment

Abbott Ford
Abbott Ford
Dec 28, 2025

'Would you commit a crime if you thought you would never get caught?' That's quite the hook! I was checking out news on my way to work, and the way Maia dives into ABSCAM really got me thinking about reducing guesswork in such complex cases, like the forge calculator does for crafting in The Forge. What a story!

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