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Wes Cooley was elected to Congress as part of the Republicans 1994 landslide. However, Oregon voters knew little about his background. The Oregonian's investigation found that Congressman Cooley had fabricated his history over the years, with boasts about a law degree he didn't have and claims that he was a government assassin. Specifically, The Oregonian found that Cooley had engaged in a series of falsifications about his record for political and financial reasons. The stories revealed that Cooley had falsely claimed in official election documents that he was a Korean War veteran; that he and his wife lied about their marriage while she collected military widows benefits; that he had made false statements under oath; and that he had evaded taxes by claiming an employee as a dependent. (March 20 - December 11, 1996)