Here’s what politicians wished you didn’t know. Via Buzzfeed, a choice rundown of Congress members’ attempts to alter their own Wikipedia biographies (including Harry Reid, whose underlings scrubbed out the section “Relationship to Jack Abramoff and his firm”):
A search through the House of Representatives IP address on Wikipedia shows which pages have been edited by Congressional staff. The IP address, shared by all Congressional offices offers a glimpse at who decided to do a bit of historical airbrushing.
1. Rep. Mike Coffman: Removed edits to an incident saying President Obama was “in his heart, just not an American.”
2. Rep. Allen West: Removed an incident in which he called members of the Progressive Caucus “Communists.”
3. Rep. Bennie Thompson: Removed Thompson’s entire “Controversies” section.
4. Rep. Grace Napolitano: Added information noting that a controversial loan she made to her campaign, which was being repaid with interest, had been completely repaid.
5. Rep Darrell Issa: Removed references to pro-Palestinian statements.
6. Rep. Health Shuler: Removed references to living in a facility operated by the Christian organization “The Family” while in DC.
7. Rep. Gregg Harper: Removed his remark that he hunted “liberal, tree-hugging, Democrats.”
8. Rep. Adam Schiff: Removed a sentence saying a vote was called off by Schiff in 2007.
9. Rep. Dan Burton: Removed a section saying Burton had received illegal contributions from Pakistan.
10. Rep. Dennis Cardoza: Removed references to Cardoza’s close relationship to disgraced former Congressman Gary Condit.
11. Rep. Adam Smith: Added lengthy additions to Smith’s biography.
12. Rep. Mike Honda: Added lengthy items about Honda’s record.
13. Rep. Tim Huelskamp: Added information to Huelskamp’s biography.
14. Rep. Richard Nugent: Added information about Nugent’s personal life.
15. Rep. Jean Schmidt: Removed entire “Armenian Genocide Denial issue” section.
16. Rep. Tom Cole: Removed a section saying Cole voted for TARP and references to a speech Cole made invoking Hitler and the Confederacy.
17. Rep. Mike Pence: Made numerous edits over the years generally about Pence’s personal life, political career, and record.
18. Rep. Peter DeFazio: Removed references to DeFazio’s liberal voting record.
19. Rep. Frank Lucas: Removed and added large sections to Lucas’ biography.
20. Lamar S. Smith: Removed references to Smith’s support for TARP.
21. Rep. Steve Austria: Removed the sections “Controversial Comments On The Great Depression,” “Controversies” and “Allegations Of Plagiarism.”
22. Rep. Joe Donnelly: Removed references to Donnelly “breaking” with the Democratic Party on some issues.
23. Rep. Rob Wittman: Added extensive additions to Wittman’s biography.
24. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer: Made numerous edits including removing the “Congressional Reputation” section.
25. Rep. Adrian Smith: Removed section about advocating for the elimination of agricultural subsidies.
26. Rep. Louie Gohmert: Removed numerous sections related to Gohmert’s controversial statements.
27. Rep. Marcy Kaptur: Removed references to Kaptur being a liberal and member of the Progressive Caucus.
28. House Speaker John Boehner: Changed information related to Boehner’s knowledge of the 2006 Mark Foley page scandal.
29. Senator Mark Kirk: Removed large sections about where Kirk received campaign donations.
30. Rep. Rob Andrews: Added extensive passages to Andrews’ biography.
31. Rep. John Mica: Removed reference to Mica sidestepping questions about his rumored toupee on the Colbert Report.
32. Harry Reid: Removed the section “Relationship to Jack Abramoff and his firm.”
33. Rep. Candice Miller: Removed section about being admonished by the House Ethics Committee.
