What politicians are saying in explaining why they will continue to accept contributions is that the donations are legal and do not influence the choice of underwriters, although some high-profile municipal bond scandals this year have suggested otherwise.

All the while, there has been a steady departure of traders from the firm's vaunted arbitrage desk, courtesy of John Meriwether, the principal architect of Salomon's proprietary trading operations who was forced to leave after the bond scandal.

Competitors had long carped about Salomon's lack of management depth, but it took the bond scandal to prove them right.

Those who worked closely with Paul W. Mozer during his dazzling 12-year career at Salomon Brothers say they are shocked and baffled by the pivotal role he played in the bond scandal.

As a result of a bond scandal, Secretary Robinson was impeached on February 26, 1862, along with Governor Charles L. Robinson and State Auditor George S. Hillyer.

Private Porsum is obviously based on Alvin C. York, Tennessee's most famous war hero, although in real life York had nothing to do with the bond scandal.

The bond scandal shook the industry when it came to light in April 1994.

Consultants are involved in some big municipal bond scandals that have emerged this year, including the sale of New Jersey Turnpike Authority bonds.

As Kidder became a fixture in the bad-news headlines for its bond scandal this year, its brokers faced increasing embarrassment with customers who questioned just what sort of joint they were doing business with.

It comes after a series of municipal bond scandals helped push big Wall Street underwriters this week to adopt a voluntary ban on contributions made to win municipal bond business.