Politicians Still Haunted By Their Mugshot After Being Arrested

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A career politician is tasked with maintaining a pristine reputation as an upstanding citizen at all times. Think: shaking hands and kissing babies. So, what happens when said politician's familiar face is blasted all over the internet following a criminal arrest? To put it simply, all hell breaks loose. We're talking a public relations crisis of epic proportions. In fact, ahead of his own famous mugshot, Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba worked overtime explaining ad nauseum all the reasons why it should stay private. "Mugshots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He is the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country right now, so there's no need for that. There's no need for the theatrics," she told CNN's Don Lemon in April 2023.

Unfortunately, there's a slew of politicians — including Trump — who know all too well what it's like to say "CHEESE!" at a police station and the nightmare that ensues afterward. The takeaway: the jailhouse portraits are the gift that keeps giving ... and giving ... and giving. 

Dawes County Sheriff's Office

Minnesota governor Tim Walz burst onto the 2024 presidential campaign practically overnight on August 6 when Kamala Harris tapped him as her running mate. "As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his," Harris penned in a statement about her pick (via NPR). "We are going to build a great partnership."

Sadly, all of the public praise in the world won't erase Walz's nightmarish mugshot. In 1995, the then-31-year-old was pulled over for doing 96 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone. The kicker? He was also driving while drunk. According to a court transcript obtained by Alpha News, Walz's blood alcohol test showed a level of .128, which was above the legal limit. In the end, Walz worked out a plea deal and pleaded guilty to reckless driving. 

In 2018, during his campaign for governor of Minnesota, Walz opened up about the arrest to The Minneapolis Star Tribune, calling the experience a wake-up call and crediting it for his sobriety and love of Diet Mountain Dew. Cheers!

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All smiles here! On June 15, 2011, the U.S. Marshals Service dropped the former senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards' arrest photo following his indictment on six felony charges. The kicker? He looked happy as a lark. "John Edwards looks better in his mugshot than I do in my best headshot," television host and comedian Conan O'Brien famously tweeted at the time about Edwards' camera-ready pose and megawatt smile to boot.

In August 2008, the longtime married man admitted during a televised interview with ABC News journalist Bob Woodruff that he was guilty of having an affair with his former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter. Alas, things went from bad to worse for the politician in 2011 when he was accused of using nearly $1 million in campaign funds to cover up said affair, which also resulted in the birth of their shared daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter. 

On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted on six counts of campaign finance charges including conspiracy, illegal campaign contributions, and false statements. Still, he was adamant that he was not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. "There's no question that I've done wrong and I take full responsibility for having done wrong, and I will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that I've caused to others," Edwards told a gaggle of reporters outside of a North Carolina courthouse, per Politico. "But I did not break the law and I never, ever thought that I was breaking the law." In the end, Edwards was found not guilty on one count of illegal campaign contribution, and the other five charges were dropped due to a deadlocked jury. Jail time or not, though, that creepy mugshot will haunt him forever.

Garfield County Sheriff's Office

Lauren Boebert is perhaps best known as the right-wing MAGA brunette Barbie-turned-congresswoman who seemingly came out of nowhere, swiftly defeating Colorado congressman Scott Tipton in the 2020 primary election. "I'm so excited to be on the front lines, fighting for you each and every day," Boebert gushed about her historic victory, per CPR News. "I know exactly who I am fighting for, why I'm in here."

As it turns out, however, the rising politician has a rather sordid history and an embarrassing mugshot to boot. It all started in 2016, when Boebert was involved in a motor vehicle accident and was promptly charged with "careless driving and [operating an] unsafe vehicle," as outlined in court documents obtained by the Colorado Times Recorder. But instead of reporting to court like any responsible, law-abiding citizen, Boebert was a no-show. Fast forward to February 2017 when Boebert was arrested for failure to appear in court. And voila! Just like that, Boebert had her very own mugshot showing just how different she looks without makeup. 

As one can imagine, during her run for congress, the mugshot reared its ugly head and Boebert was forced to confront the scandal head-on. Alas, it appears she wasn't quite as forthcoming, telling prospective campaign supporters that the arrest and subsequent mugshot were due to an unpaid ticket for a traffic violation as opposed to the actual failure to appear in court charge. "I even got a pretty mugshot out of it. Now that mug shot is being blasted everywhere to try to vilify me, to make me look like Colorado's most wanted, while they are promoting defund-the-police organizations. This is not right," she lamented, per the Colorado Times Recorder.

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Where were you when you first laid eyes on Donald Trump's mugshot? Trump made headlines in August 2023 when his defiant, scowling mug was plastered for the whole world to see. As you may recall, Trump surrendered to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, on racketeering, conspiracy, and various other felony charges stemming from the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's mugshot proves to be historic for a few reasons. For starters, he's the first president in United States history to have a mugshot. "It's dramatically unprecedented," Sean Wilentz, a Princeton University professor, told The New York Times. "Of all the millions, maybe billions of photos taken of Donald Trump, this could stand as the most famous. Or notorious." 

Perhaps even more interesting than the unprecedented circumstances, however, was Trump's genuine reluctance to take the photo. It's no secret that Trump loves a good photo op. But his uncharacteristic hesitance to pose for the picture in the first place, along with the unmistakable look of disdain on his face, is a jarring juxtaposition to Trump's usual camera-ready smile. "They insisted on a mugshot and I agreed to do that. This is the only time I've ever taken a mugshot," he later told Fox News about his opposition to the photo op. "It is not a comfortable feeling — especially when you've done nothing wrong." No doubt, this will go down as one of Trump's least flattering photos of himself. A true nightmare, indeed. 

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Alas, Donald Trump wasn't the only politician upset with the idea of having his mugshot taken in Fulton County, Georgia. Case in point: former New York City mayor and United States associate attorney general, as well as Trump's very own former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. As you may recall, the disgraced politician was also indicted on charges related to election interference in The Peach State.

"I'm going to Georgia, and I'm feeling very, very good about it because I feel I'm defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney," the politician told a gaggle of reporters outside his New York City apartment on August 23, 2023, per CBS News. "I don't know if I plead today, but if I do, I'll plead not guilty. And I'll get photographed, isn't that nice? A mugshot, [of] the man who probably put the worst criminals of the 20th century in jail," he bemoaned about the horror. Hmm ... perhaps we'll just file this one under Giuliani's most embarrassing moments.