John McCain was accused of corruption in 1989 as part of the Keating Five.
John McCain . After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five , he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns , eventually gaining passage of the McCain -- Feingold Act in 2002 . The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989 , igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s .