1875 Whiskey Ring

Attachments

1877 Compromise of 1877
Before they were caught, a group of politicians were able to siphon off millions of dollars in federal taxes.
Bristow, during his tenure as Secretary of Treasury, is primarily known for breaking up and prosecuting the Whiskey Ring, a corrupt tax evasion profiteering ring that depleted the national treasury, having President Ulysses S. Grant's permission.
Essentially, distillers bribed government officials, and those officials helped the distillers evade federal taxes on the whiskey they produced and sold.
The scheme involved an extensive network of bribes involving distillers, government officials, rectifiers, gaugers, storekeepers, and internal revenue agents.
The Whiskey Ring involved diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents, politicians, whiskey distillers, and distributors.