Gary Braun pharmaceutical bribes scandal

The Gary Braun pharmaceutical bribes scandal, often known as Pharmagate, Bribegate and Abbviegate, was a major political scandal that erupted in the United States in late 2039. Incumbent president Gary Braun, who was fighting for a second term and was widely considered to be favored for re-election, was exposed as having taken bribes from pharmaceutical company AbbVie from 2033 to the eruption of the scandal. The scandal resulted in the bankruptcy and dissolution of AbbVie, and was probably a major factor in Braun's landslide loss in the 2040 presidential election.

Background
Gary Braun, incumbent president of the United States in 2039, was first elected to the position in 2036. He nearly won the popular vote in the election, which would have made him the first Republican popular vote winner since 2004, when George W. Bush won in a close race against John Kerry. He had maintained a consistently high approval rating throughout his first term, leading many political analysts to believe he would win the Electoral College by a landslide and win the popular vote as a Republican in 2040. Braun was fairly right-wing when it came to healthcare issues, in significant contrast to his moderate, down-to-earth persona on most other issues. While he did not advocate cutting Social Security or Medicaid, he was opposed to any kind of state healthcare and was also opposed to predecesor Julián Castro's public health insurance option, which was instituted during 2031, in his first term. However, Braun's efforts to repeal it were unsuccessful.

Scandal
The pharmaceutical bribes scandal first broke on November 14, 2039, after a four-month-long investigation by the Washington Post. While some of the allegations were unconfirmed at first, the scandal quickly erupted when many people in the pharmaceutical industry, including former employees at AbbVie, corroborated the story. Braun continued to deny the allegations into early 2040, but an impeachment inquiry was opened against him and he was impeached by a 243-189 vote (3 abstained) on March 2nd, 2040. However, much like the last impeached presidents, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, he was acquitted by the Senate; 61 senators voted to convict, while 43 voted to acquit (a two-thirds majority vote of the 104 senators, or 70 votes, were needed to convict.) Even though Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress, many crossed party lines to vote to impeach and convict president Braun due to the scandal.

Aftermath
Gary Braun's approval rating plunged from 53% in October 2039 to 28% in March 2040, according to Gallup. While his approval rating recovered slightly due to the scandal leaving the spotlight for the most part, he was still defeated by Democrat Stacey Abrams in the 2040 election in a landslide.