Credit Mobilier Scandal

Credit Mobilier Scandal On 4 September 1872, newspapers accused prominent Republicans of corrupt involvement with the Credit Mobilier Co., a shell corporation controlled by the Union Pacific Railroad Co. Union Pacific directors had siphoned off large amounts of money, including federal subsidies, by awarding fraudulent construction contracts to Credit Mobilier, and they tried to prevent a congressional investigation by bribing influential politicians, including Vice-President Schuyler Colfax and James Garfield, with sales of discounted stock. On 27 February 1873, Congress censured two of its thirteen members involved. The scandal added to the Ulysses S. Grant administration’s reputation for corruption.