To the players in Abscam, the real-life 'American Hustle,' the bribes now seem quaint

The massive FBI anti-corruption operation known as Abscam captured the public imagination in 1980 with a cinematic cast of characters: phony Arab sheiks, real mobsters, corrupt local politicians, U.S. congressmen on the take -- all of it orchestrated by a cigar-chomping con artist paid by the feds to set up stings.