List of -gate scandals and controversies
This is a list of scandals or controversies whose names include a -gate suffix, by analogy with the Watergate scandal, as well as other incidents to which the suffix has been applied. This list also includes controversies that are widely referred to with a -gate suffix, but may be referred to by another more common name. Use of the -gate suffix has spread beyond American English to many other countries and languages.
Etymology, usage, and history of ''-gate''
The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal in the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of US President Richard Nixon. The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., where the burglary giving rise to the scandal took place; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.The suffix has become productive as a libfix and is used to embellish a noun or name to suggest the existence of a far-reaching scandal, particularly in politics and government. As a CBC News column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and a cover-up".
Such usage has been criticized by some commentators as clichéd and misleading. James Stanyer comments that "revelations are given the 'gate' suffix to add a thin veil of credibility, following 'Watergate', but most bear no resemblance to the painstaking investigation of that particular piece of presidential corruption". Stanyer links the widespread use of -gate to what the sociologist John Thompson calls "scandal syndrome":
The adoption of -gate to suggest the existence of a scandal was promoted by William Safire, the conservative New York Times columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter. As early as September 1974, he wrote of "Vietgate", a proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers. Subsequently, he coined numerous -gate terms, including Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate, Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate, Koreagate, Lancegate, Maggiegate, Nannygate, Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate, and Whitewatergate. The New York magazine suggested that his aim in doing so was "rehabilitating Nixon by relentlessly tarring his successors with the same rhetorical brush – diminished guilt by association". Safire himself later said to author Eric Alterman that he "may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness".
The usage has spread into languages other than English; examples of -gate being used to refer to local political scandals have been reported from Argentina, Germany, South Korea, Hungary, Greece and the former Yugoslavia. The term is also used in Mandarin Chinese with the suffix -mén.
Some commentators have characterized this use of the -gate suffix as a snowclone. But Geoffrey Pullum, the coiner of the term snowclone, considers that it is only a "lexical word-formation analog". Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, said that no one should aspire to write with cliches and that although they do help to get a lot of complicated things across in few words, they are not a good way to get people to keep reading what you're writing.
Similar phenomena
The use of a suffix in this way is not new. -mandering has long been used as a suffix by a politician's name in analogy with gerrymandering. In recent years, the -gate suffix as a catch-all signifier for scandal has seen some competition from as in "Ballghazi" instead of "Deflategate", or "Bridgeghazi" instead of "Bridgegate". The use of -ghazi is a play on the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack, which, despite numerous official investigations into the possibility of government cover-ups, has resulted in no criminal charges or major repercussions for the individuals supposedly involved. -ghazi may be seen as carrying an ironic or self-effacing connotation in its usage, implying that the event described has the appearance and media coverage of a scandal, but does not actually amount to much in a grander sense.Like the -gate suffix, the Italian -opoli suffix emerged in Italian media from investigations in the 1990s that uncovered a system known as Tangentopoli. The term derives from tangente, which means 'kickback', and Polis, meaning 'city'. Examples of snowclone-like use of -opoli include Bancopoli and Calciopoli.
Scandals
These scandals have been given the -gate suffix.Politics
| Name | Year | Description | |
| Abu Ghraibgate | 2004 | The torture and abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. | |
| Agrogate | 1987 | Widespread economic and political corruption in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was exposed as its economy collapsed, contributing to its disintegration in 1991. | |
| Angolagate | 2008 | Arms sales to the Government of Angola by the Government of France between 1993 and 2000. | |
| Baligate | 1999 | Golkar Party officials colluded with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency to coerce Bank Bali chief Rudy Ramli to pay an illegal commission of to private company Era Giat Prima in order to collect owed by two banks taken over by IBRA. | |
| Bananagate | 1974 | The United Brands Company paid a $1.25 million bribe to Honduran President Oswaldo López Arellano, followed by another $1.25 million the next year to have a tax reduced from fifty cents to twenty-five cents per box of bananas. When the bribe was revealed, it provoked the overthrow of the military government in Honduras and this in turn led to the nationalisation of United's railways along with a major divestiture of land by the companies. | |
| Beachgate | 2017 | Chris Christie, the then-Governor of New Jersey, visited a state-owned beach house with his family amid a statewide government shutdown that closed such beaches to the public. The family was depicted lounging in the sun in airplane photographs taken by the state's largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger. Christie subsequently defended his actions. | |
| Beergate | 2022 | Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, was accused of breaching British COVID-19 regulations on social gathering while campaigning in Durham in 2021, with pictures circulating of him and his colleagues drinking beer indoors against government advice. Gaining media attention in 2022, critics have cited potential hypocrisy by Starmer given his harsh criticisms of Boris Johnson's actions during Partygate. On 9 May 2022, Starmer announced that he would resign as leader of the opposition if he were to be found to have broken COVID-19 regulations, as did his deputy Angela Rayner. Starmer and Rayner were cleared of any wrongdoing by Durham police. | |
| Bibigate | 1993 | Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to having an extramarital affair. | |
| Bibigate | 1997 | It was alleged that Netanyahu had chosen Roni Bar-On as attorney-general to please Aryeh Deri, who was being prosecuted in a corruption trial. | |
| Bigotgate | 2010 | UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is accidentally recorded calling a party supporter a bigot after a woman challenged him while he was campaigning in Rochdale during the run-up to the 2010 UK general Election. | |
| Billygate | 1980 | US President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, legally represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent. | |
| Bingogate | 1999 | A scandal that occurred during the administration of Premier of British Columbia Mike Harcourt, involving the skimming of charity funds for use by the ruling NDP by former MLA Dave Stupich. | |
| Biscuitgate | 2017 | A scandal in Mauritius involving the alleged abuse of power by the speaker of parliament's daughter to sell biscuits to government departments at inflated prices. | |
| Blabbergate | 2017 | US President Donald Trump allegedly revealed highly classified information to Russia's Foreign Minister and Ambassador, boasting, "I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day." Trump seemingly confirmed the scandal in a tweet. | |
| Bleachgate | 2020 | US President Donald Trump suggesting drinking bleach to cure COVID-19. | |
| Blobbygate | 1994 | Lancaster City Council spent £300,000 of taxpayer's money on a Crinkley Bottom theme park which only stayed open for 13 weeks. The overall cost to the taxpayer was £2.6 million. It was known as "Blobbygate" due to the Mr Blobby character who was the main character of the park. | |
| Bonusgate | 2008 | Pennsylvania scandal involving the alleged use of government funds to finance partisan political campaigns. | |
| Bridgegate | 2013 | Allegations New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration ordered lane closures from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the George Washington Bridge because the Fort Lee mayor did not endorse his reelection. | |
| Brothelgate | 2010 | The series of events that led to the resignation of the Irish Minister of Defence Willie O'Dea. | |
| Buloggate and Bruneigate | 2003 | Two related cases that leads to Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid's impeachment:
| |
| Cablegate | 2010 | In November 2010, WikiLeaks began to release American diplomatic cables from a trove of over 250,000. | |
| Calendargate | 2023–2024 | The promotional 2024 calendar released by Ultra Right Beer featuring young American female conservative activists and commentators in pin-up poses, some but not all minimally dressed, to disparage trans women; it was widely criticized by social and Christian conservatives as indecorous and contrary to the movement's values while embraced and defended by libertarians. | |
| Cashgate | 2014 | The plundering of Malawian government funds by government officials in 2013. | |
| CatalanGate | 2022 | A scandal involving accusations of espionage by the Spanish Government using the NSO Group's Pegasus spyware against figures of the Catalan independence movement after the Procés. | |
| Cheriegate | 2002 | A political scandal over the purchase of two flats in Bristol by Cherie Blair with the alleged assistance of Peter Foster, a convicted Australian conman and boyfriend of Blair's friend Carole Caplin. | |
| Choi Soon-sil gate | 2016 | South Korean scandal involving Choi Soon-sil's influence over president Park Geun-hye. | |
| Choppergate | 2013 | An Indian parliamentary investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption involving several senior officials and helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland surrounding the purchase of a new fleet of helicopters. | |
| Choppergate | 2014 | An Australian political scandal involving Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop flying from Melbourne to a party fundraiser in Geelong in November 2014, at a cost of AUD$5227. | |
| Chinagate | 1996 | Refers to the allegations of Chinese interference in the 1996 United States elections, and the possible collusion between Beijing and the Clinton presidential campaign, and the subsequent presidency. | |
| 1994 | Allegations of involvement by the Özal family on the shooting of Engin Civan, former head of the Emlak Bank, which was organized by mob leader Alaattin Çakıcı | ||
| Climategate | Leaked emails reveal some members of the UK Parliament to be climate change denialists | - | |
| Clonegate | 2020 | Russian president Vladimir Putin has been accused of having clones, proponents say that his extremely different appearance is a giveaway, however this hoax has been disproven, as this appearance change is easily explained with Botox use and facelifts. | |
| Coingate | 2005 | The mishandling of Ohio government funds entrusted to Ohio Republican Party operatives, involving rare coin funds | |
| Coalgate | 2014 | The mishandling of coal field auctions by the Indian government under the UPA-1. The alleged loss was $37 billion. | |
| Cokegate | 2023 | On July 2, 2023, the United States Secret Service found a small plastic bag containing powder cocaine inside the White House. | |
| Corngate | 2002 | A political scandal in New Zealand in 2002, which involved the suspected release of genetically modified corn seed in 2000. | |
| Cryptogate | 2025 | Controversy following Argentine President Javier Milei's promotion of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA on social media which subsequently suffered a severe price crash. | |
| Dasukigate | 2015 | The diversion of moneys intended for purchase of arms and armaments for the Nigerian army in its counter-insurgency war with Boko Haram to things like paying for Sambo Dasuki's purchase of real estate property in Dubai and paying a friend's private hospital complex for "offering prayers" for the success of President Goodluck Jonathan's re-election bid | |
| Debategate | 1980 | A political scandal in the United States involving the suspicious acquisition of debate preparation documents. | |
| Donnygate | 1990s | A political scandal involving expenses fraud by councillors in Doncaster, United Kingdom | |
| Dildogate | 2016 | Protest action against the Trans-Pacific Partnership where a protester flung a rubber dildo at MP Steven Joyce, striking him in the face. Also known as the Waitangi dildo incident. | |
| Dissertation-gate | 2019 | Controversy surrounding the authenticity of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's 1984 doctorate earned at the London School of Economics. | |
| Duna-gate | 1990 | A political scandal in Hungary in 1990, with the communist regime's secret service illegally collecting information on opposition parties. | |
| Elbowgate | 2016 | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accidentally elbowed a female MP in the chest in the House of Commons, causing the opposition to accuse him of assaulting her. | |
| Emailgate | 2015 | During her tenure as United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton drew controversy by using a private email server for official public communications rather than using official State Department email accounts maintained on federal servers. Clinton's server was found to hold over 100 emails containing classified information, including 65 emails deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret". An additional 2,093 emails not marked classified were retroactively designated confidential by the State Department.The controversy was a major point of discussion and contention during the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. In July, FBI director James Comey announced that the FBI investigation had concluded that Clinton had been "extremely careless" but recommended that no charges be filed because Clinton did not act with criminal intent, the historical standard for pursuing prosecution. Clinton claimed that her use complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts. Unlike the official system, which was hacked by the Russians, her private system was never hacked. | |
| Erdogate | 2016 | After the publication of a satirical comedy sketch by Jan Böhmermann and Neo Magazin Royale, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed several lawsuits against the comedian, which led the Bundestag to decide to discard the antiquated law §103. | |
| Faceliftgate | 2017 | Controversy surrounding two Donald Trump tweets criticizing Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. Together, the tweets read "I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me. Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came... to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" | |
| Fallagate | 2007 | Political scandal in Guernsey over an attempt to avoid a political conflict of interest over a hospital extension plan. | |
| Fajitagate | 2002 | In November 2002, three off-duty San Francisco police officers allegedly assaulted two civilians over a bag of steak fajitas, leading to the retirement of the chief of police and the firing of his successor. | |
| Fangate | 2014 | In a 2014 Florida gubernatorial election debate Governor Rick Scott did not take the stage for seven minutes after learning that his Democratic opponent, former Governor Charlie Crist, had a small electric fan underneath his lectern, which Scott's campaign and debate organizers stated was against the agreed rules. Scott was subsequently criticized for nearly derailing a debate over a trivial issue. | |
| Farmgate | 2022 | In February 2020 US$4 million was stolen from South African president Cyril Ramaphosa's private game farm. The theft was not reported and only became public in June 2022 following the lodging of an official criminal complaint against the president by the controversial former head of the State Security Agency Arthur Fraser. The incident raised a number of questions about why the theft was not reported, why Fraser only reported it two years later, and what impact it might have on future South African politics. | |
| Fartgate | 2016 | In a speech at the Canadian House of Commons made by Michelle Rempel Garner, the MP for Calgary Nose Hill, Alberta, about jobs in her province, Rempel asked, "Why does this government treat Alberta like a fart in the room that nobody wants to talk about or acknowledge?" The member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands and leader of the Canadian Green Party, Elizabeth May, stood up and described Rempel's use of the word "fart" as "unparliamentary". May requested for Rempel to withdraw the word "fart", which Rempel refused to do. The crowd watching the House of Commons proceeded to heckle May. | |
| Fergiegate | 2010 | Videotape of a conversation between Sarah, Duchess of York and Mazher Mahmood in which she is offered £500,000 in return for access to her ex-husband. | |
| Filegate | 1998 | The illegal possession and scrutiny of 300–900 FBI files by the Clinton Administration without the file subjects' permission. | |
| Floodgate | 2025 | Series of allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and irregularities in the flood control projects in the Philippines during and before the administration of President Bongbong Marcos. | |
| Fridgegate | 2019 | After refusing to be interviewed a number of times in the 2019 election campaign UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hid in a fridge to avoid being interviewed by Good Morning Britain. Reporter Jonathan Swain attempted to ask Johnson for an interview live on TV while he was campaigning in Pudsey, Yorkshire. In the brief encounter a Johnson aide can be heard saying "oh for fuck's sake" before Johnson disappears into a fridge at Modern Milkman. He did not return for the interview. The event was coined 'fridgegate' with a number of memes being created and the tag '#fridgegate' trending on Twitter. | |
| Frockgate | 2024 | Recently elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accepted valuable gifts which he initially failed to declare. | |
| Gaetzgate | 2021 | US politician Matt Gaetz was placed under investigation concerning sex-trafficking and a potential sexual relationship with a minor. The investigation later expanded to include allegations that Gaetz accepted gifts from marijuana investors, including travel and paid escorts, in exchange for pay-for-play legislation favorable to the investors, and sought to secure government jobs for some of the escorts involved. | |
| Gaiagate | 2014 | Ruinous spending on Vila Nova de Gaia city hall–owned companies and waste disposal concession contracts by former mayor Luís Filipe Menezes and his cronies. | |
| Garglegate | 2010 | A radio interview given by Taoiseach Brian Cowen in September 2010, in which many commentators said he appeared to be suffering from a hangover. | |
| Gategate or plebgate | 2012 | UK political row, when MP Andrew Mitchell allegedly called a policeman a "pleb", after he was asked to use another gate to leave Downing Street on his bicycle. Mitchell denied using the word pleb; however, he resigned amid the media furor over the alleged comments. Reports later emerged which called the legitimacy of the officers' claims into question and a PC was eventually jailed for his involvement in the incident. This -gate scandal is noteworthy for actually involving a gate. | |
| Ghaligate | 2021 | A diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain following the admission of Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to a Spanish hospital. | |
| Gloriagate | 2005 | An electoral scandal in the Philippines involving leaked telephone conversations between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a member of the Commission on Elections, with both allegedly conspiring to rig the results of the 2004 presidential election in Arroyo's favor. | |
| Golfgate | 2020 | A number of Irish TDs and senators and former TDs and senators including Fine Gael EU Commissioner Phil Hogan, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dara Calleary, Galway TD Noel Grealish, and others attended the Oireachtas golf society dinner in Clifden, Galway to celebrate its 50th anniversary in direct breach of COVID-19 social distancing measures where the limit of individuals in a contained space was set by the Dáil with no more than 50 attendees while the event itself had 82 attendees. | |
| Gombakgate | 2025 | Grassroots volunteers from two Singaporean political parties, People's Action Party and Progress Singapore Party, were involved in a series of altercations at Bukit Gombak on 4 January, four months prior to the events of the 2025 Singaporean general election which was held on 3 May. The term was coined by PSP's Hazel Poa during her rally on 1 May, where she also questioned the PAP's motives behind attempts to further disrupt the PSP's campaigning walkabouts, after a series of WhatsApp messages suggesting that volunteers linked to PAP candidate Shawn Huang on further disrupting the PSP's campaigning walkabouts went viral online; Poa also demanded Huang to issue a statement. PSP also demanded a request for probe findings prior to Polling Day. The police investigations ended on 29 August that no action were taken against both parties, and the police announced that they have declined to disclose their investigation findings to the public. | |
| Grangegate | 2014 | A political scandal involving former New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell and a $3,000 bottle of Penfolds Grange. | |
| Greek Watergate | 2022 | Shortly after he took office in 2019, Greek Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis allegedly ordered the Greek intelligence services to have the phones of his political opponents tapped to secretly monitor their calls and texts. These allegations came to light in 2022 after Nikos Androulakis revealed there was an attempt to hack his phone with the Predator spyware. This particular scandal is called "-Watergate" instead of "-gate" because of similarities with the original Watergate scandal including the direct involvement of the most important politician in the country, the wiretapping of the politician's opponents, the scandal's domination of the national news media and the widespread coverage in the international media. | |
| Gropegate | 2003 | Refers to the allegations of groping and sexual misconduct against actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his campaign in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election. | |
| Gropegate | 2018 | The name for the accusation of groping in 2000 by former journalist Rose Knight against Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Knight released a public statement asserting she refused to involve herself with publicity or any pursuits of repercussions. | |
| Grubgate | 2024 | An uproar in which Mayra Flores used photos of food from social media and posted to the social media of her political campaign with captions suggesting that she cooked the food in the photos. | |
| Gulargate | 2013 | A political corruption scandal in Azerbaijan involving MP Gular Ahmadova. | |
| Guptagate | 2013 | A political scandal involving South African President Jacob Zuma and the illegal landing of a planeload of guests at the Gupta family's wedding at Waterkloof Air Force Base in South Africa. | |
| Hailgate | 2016 | Scandal following leaked footage of the Nazi salute used by attendees of a white nationalist conference organized by Richard B. Spencer. | |
| Hairgate | 1993 | Unsubstantiated allegations surrounding a haircut given to US President Bill Clinton. | |
| Handshakegate | 2025 | An event when Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa failed to shake German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock's hand while shaking the French foreign minister's. | |
| Hawaiigate | 2016 | Outrage in Thailand over Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon's 20.9-million-baht chartered flight to an ASEAN-US defence meeting in Hawaii. | |
| Ibizagate | 2019 | A scandal featuring senior members of Austria's far-right FPÖ party in a sting operation that happened on the island of Ibiza, involving them offering government contracts to alleged Russian backers in return for favorable coverage in the country's press. This caused the First Kurz government of ÖVP and FPÖ parties to collapse. | |
| Iraqgate | 2003 | A Finnish scandal involving the leaking of secret documents to Anneli Jäätteenmäki, which helped bring down Paavo Lipponen's government. Later, it also brought down Jäätteenmäki's government. | |
| Irangate or Contragate | 1980s | The Reagan Administration sold weapons to Iran and diverted the proceeds to the Contras in Nicaragua. | |
| Irisgate | 2010 | UK political scandal involving an affair by Northern Ireland MLA Iris Robinson, wife of First Minister Peter Robinson. | |
| Jurmalgate | 2005 | Political scandal in Latvia that involved several businessmen and politicians offering a bribe to a deputy of Jurmala City Council in an attempt to sway the 2005 mayoral elections. | |
| Kazakhgate | 2005 | Scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Kazakhstani president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who paid US$78 million in bribes to high-level Kazakhstani officials to secure the oil contracts for Western companies in the 1990s. | |
| Koreagate | 1976 | An American scandal involving South Korean influence peddling in the US Congress. This was the first scandal after Watergate to receive the suffix. | |
| LadyRussiagate | 2022 | A South African scandal involving the secretive docking of a sanctioned Russian cargo ship carrying military cargo at a naval base in South Africa. The United States accused South Africa of selling arms to Russia that would be used in its war with Ukraine resulting in the damaging of South African-USA bilateral relations. | |
| Leakgate | 2015 | An Indian scandal involving the theft and sale of government documents | |
| Lecterngate or Podiumgate | 2023 | Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office purchased a replica of the Presidential Falcon lectern and road case using a state-issued credit card for $19,029.25, which was reimbursed by the Republican Party of Arkansas. Public record requests revealed the purchase to the public, and it was criticised for alleged waste and potential wrongdoing. The Arkansas General Assembly opened an audit. | |
| Lettergate | 2022 | Then Prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and his government allege that the United States government threatened Pakistan with 'consequences' if the vote of no-confidence were to fail and Khan was to remain in office, and that 'all would be forgiven' if Khan were removed. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield replied to this by saying "there is absolutely no truth to that allegation". | |
| Liquorgate | 2022 | Irrelevant licensing, extensions and inviting private firms and businessmen into liquor sector, shutting away government power and grip over the retail liquor sector in New Delhi. | |
| Lunaticgate | 2016 | During the [2016 Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2016 Labour Party leadership election] campaign, leadership challenger Owen Smith, in a speech to party members in Hammersmith on August 23, said "What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party", commenting about incumbent Leader Jeremy Corbyn and sparking outrage from many. Though Smith later admitted that he needed to be "slightly less colourful" with his choice of language, he said that his comment was not referring to Corbyn. | |
| Macacagate | 2006 | During George Allen's reelection campaign for the 2006 United States Senate election in Virginia in August, Allen referred to his opponent's aide S. R. Sidarth, who had been following him to all of his campaign stops, as a "macaca", a racial slur. Footage of this spread on YouTube and through blogs and emails, partially causing Allen's election loss from the negative publicity. | |
| Mammygate | 2008 | Gloria Squitiro, wife of Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser, allegedly called one of her secretaries "mammy". The secretary, Ruth Bates, who is black, sued the city council for discrimination. The case was settled in 2009. | |
| Marocgate | 2022 | A bribery scandal involving Morocco and several members of the European Parliament, closely linked to the Qatargate scandal. The allegations involve Morocco offering gifts and luxurious holidays worth up to to influence votes and secure support for Morocco's claims over Western Sahara. | |
| Mehrangate | 1990s | In which senior Army and ISI officials had withdrawn large sums of money from Mehran Bank Limited and Habib Bank Limited to be used in an 'intelligence fund' to fund the electoral opponents of Benazir Bhutto and the PPP before the 1990 general elections. some Rs. 499 million was distributed to various politician and used to "topple" the provincial government in NWFP. The operation had the support of then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and caretaker Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, while Yunus Habib of HBL was involved. Those who received money included Nawaz Sharif, Lt.-Gen. Rafaqat, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Pir Pagaro, Muhammad Khan Junejo, Jam Sadiq Ali, Altaf Hussain, etc. This was revealed following the collapse of Mehran Bank and a case registered by retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan, when neither Aslam Beg or Asad Durrani continued to hold office. | |
| Memogate | 2011 | Controversy surrounding an alleged Pakistani memo seeking the help of the Obama administration in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid to prevent a military takeover in Pakistan. | |
| Merriongate | 2021 | Similar to the Golfgate scandal in 2020, former Minister for Children Katherine Zappone hosted an outdoor gathering on 21 July 2021 for 50 guests, including Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, six days prior to her controversial appointment as an "UN special envoy" which was proposed by Simon Coveney. This resulted in widespread anger among opposition TDs. Ultimately Zappone declined to take up the envoy role, which subsequently led to a motion of no confidence against Coveney for his handling of the affair. | |
| Minkgate | 2020 | The slaughter of all mink in Denmark under orders of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that were later revealed to have no legal basis, leading to snap elections following threats of a no-confidence vote | |
| Monicagate, Lewinskygate, Tailgate, or Sexgate | 1990s | Named after Monica Lewinsky, who had an "inappropriate relationship" with the then-US President Bill Clinton. | |
| Muldergate | 1979 | South African political scandal in which funds were clandestinely diverted by defence minister Connie Mulder for overseas propaganda in support of the apartheid regime. The scandal brought about the downfall of Prime Minister BJ Vorster. | |
| Namagate | 2015 | A Northern Irish political and financial scandal in which the First Minister of Northern Ireland allegedly stood to benefit from the sale of a portfolio of loans and properties by the National Asset Management Agency. | |
| Nannygate | 1993 | A [|political controversy] in the United States wherein the nomination of Zoë Baird and near-nomination of Kimba Wood for US Attorney General were withdrawn due to the hiring of illegal aliens as nannies or the failure to pay taxes for them. | |
| Nannygate | 2006 | Swedish scandal over the non-payment of employment taxes of nannies and obligatory television fees by members of the Reinfeldt cabinet. | |
| Nenegate | 2015 | A political controversy in South Africa following the firing of Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance by then president Jacob Zuma resulting in large scale capital flight from the country. | |
| NISgate | 2013 | South Korean National Intelligence Service manipulated public opinion to promote the ruling party and Park Geun-hye. | |
| Nkandlagate | 2009 | South African political scandal brought to light in 2009 by the Mail & Guardian regarding a multimillion-rand state-funded private home of President Jacob Zuma. The story became more sensitive after the release of the public protector Thuli Madonsela's report titled "Secure in comfort". The scandal drove the opposition to initiate impeachment proceedings against Zuma. | |
| Nokiagate | 2022 | In May 2022, the Dutch state attorney revealed in a courtcase that Prime Minister Mark Rutte daily deleted all the text messages on his archaic Nokia mobile phone, which those he deemed important being forwarded or dictated to civil servants. This was referred to as "real-time archiving". The phone purportedly only had memory space for twenty messages. According to the Council of State, text messages are required by law to be stored to allow officials to be held accountable by the public. Rutte denied withholding information or breaking the law. Experts and opposition parties were critical. A motion of no confidence failed. | |
| Nueragate | 2015 | Chilean president Michelle Bachelet was accused of giving advantageous business deals and credits to her daughter-in-law through a position that her son also held in the government. | |
| Nukegate | 2017 | A political and legal scandal which arose from the abandonment of the Virgil C. Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina by South Carolina Electric & Gas and the South Carolina Public Service Authority in 2017. It was the largest business failure in the history of South Carolina and resulted in criminal charges. | |
| Officegate | 2001 | Scotland's First Minister Henry McLeish resigned after it was revealed that while he was a Westminster MP between 1987 and 1998, he sublet his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife, but failed to ensure that it was registered or that the party issued funds from the income to the House of Commons. | |
| Oniongate | 2015 | Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was filmed biting into a whole onion, seemingly including its skin. | |
| Palmargate | 2003 | The Minister of Housing and Lands resigned and was arrested twice following bribery allegations regarding the lease of state owned land on the coast line of Mauritius. It involved the use of fake contracts by notaries, lawyers and political intermediaries to extort money from a local businessman. | |
| Panamagate | 2016 | Ongoing political scandals in several countries, associated with the Panama Papers, a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies listed by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca. In Malta, Panamagate refers to a March 2016 scandal surrounding Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi with an undeclared trust in New Zealand and a company in Panama. In Pakistan, the Panama Papers case, or Panamagate case, resulted in the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office for 10 years. | |
| Pantigate | 2014 | Controversy surrounding payments by RTÉ after drag queen and LGBT activist Panti accused some anti-LGBT campaigners of homophobia | |
| Pardongate | 2001 | Controversy surrounding Bill Clinton's pardons of 140 people on his last day in office as President of the United States, including Patty Hearst | |
| Partygate | 2021 | A political scandal surrounding social gatherings of United Kingdom government and Conservative Party staff that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when there were public health restrictions on such gatherings. Whilst several lockdowns in the country were in place, reported gatherings occurred at 10 Downing Street, its garden, and other government buildings. Starting in December 2021, these attracted substantial media attention, public debate, and controversy. The scandal contributed to the downfall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was later found to have deliberately misled the House of Commons, a contempt of Parliament, over the affair by a privileges committee, prompting his resignation as an MP in June 2023. | |
| Partygate | 2022 | A political scandal in Hong Kong involving the birthday party of Witman Hung during the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| Pastagate | 2013 | Montreal controversy, in which an Italian restaurant was investigated by the Quebec government for using words that do not comply with their language laws, such as "bottiglia", "calamari" and "pasta". | |
| Pastygate | 2012 | Controversy in March/April 2012 around the taxation by the UK Government of hot snacks such as pasties, where Conservative ministers were said to be out of touch with the eating habits of ordinary people. | |
| Pemexgate | 2000 | Scandal involving the state-owned oil company Pemex in Mexico in which funds were used to support the political campaign of Carlos Romero Deschamps, the presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party. | |
| Penelopegate | 2017 | Revelation that French presidential candidate François Fillon had officially employed his wife Penelope as an aide while a politician, but that it was a fictitious job which she never worked but nonetheless earned over €1 million in public wages. Known as both "Penelopegate" and "l'affaire Fillon" in French. | |
| Petrogate | 2008 | The name given by the press in Peru to the corruption case regarding large amounts of oil. Norwegian mining company Discover Petroleum and state-owned Perupetro were involved, which prompted the resignation of cabinet ministers. | |
| Pfizergate | 2021 | Ongoing political scandal centered on the lack of transparency in the communication and negotiation processes for purchasing a significant number of vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| Pfizergate | 2021 | Report raising concerns over the data integrity and regulatory oversight of Pfizer vaccine trials. | |
| Phone call-gate | 2025 | Also called the "Thailand–Cambodia phone call leak", a 9-minute phone conversation between Prime Minister of Thailand Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen on 15 June was leaked to about 80 Cambodian officials on 19 June. Hun published on Facebook on the entire 17-minute call on 18 June to avoid misunderstandings, while on the same day Paetongtarn acknowledged that she was speaking in the leaked call, discussing on aims to threaten the Thailand's government in the midst of the ongoing border conflict. The leak precipitated a political crisis following the resignation of the Bhumjaithai Party from the governing coalition and become an opposition party, and by 1 July, Paetongtarn was suspended from office by the Constitutional Court of Thailand. On 29 August, the Constitutional Court upheld their decision and removed her from the office, and was later succeeded by Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul on 7 September. | |
| Pizzagate | 2014 | Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio dined on pizza with a fork and knife, causing a humorous reaction on the internet. | |
| Plamegate | 2005 | The revealing, by Robert Novak, of the name of Valerie Plame. Lewis Libby allegedly leaked to the media the identity of a covert CIA agent who worked on WMDs, in retaliation for her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, criticizing George W. Bush's justification for the invasion of Iraq. | |
| Ponytailgate | 2015 | A young waitress claims Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key pulled at her hair's ponytail numerous times over several months while visiting the café, even after being requested to stop by her and his wife. | |
| Popcorngate | 2021 | Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing curfew related to the pandemic, Quebec premier François Legault announced that movie theaters would be permitted to open in the province ahead of March break. However, with much of the province in the most restrictive "red" zone, the theaters were not permitted to sell popcorn or other concessions, unless they were located in the lesser restrictive "orange" zone. Legault justified that the move was so that patrons could keep their masks on throughout the entire movie, as a mask mandate had been in place in Quebec since July 18, 2020. The announcement was condemned by other MNAs as well as by movie theater mogul Vincenzo Guzzo, who has been active on Twitter throughout the pandemic criticizing the handling of the pandemic by Legault. Quebec then announced that it would compensate movie theaters for the absence of popcorn sales. Guzzo refused the money and would not open his theaters until the end of May, when the curfew was lifted. | |
| Porngate | 2012 | Three members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in India resigned from their offices after accusations that they watched porn during government proceedings. | |
| Pussygate | 2016 | On October 7, 2016, The Washington Post released a video and accompanying article about Donald Trump and Billy Bush having "an extremely lewd conversation about women" in 2005. In the video, Trump indicated that he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet during the filming of an episode of Access Hollywood. Trump further asserted that "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... grab them by the pussy". | |
| Qatargate | 2022 | Ongoing political scandal in which politicians, political staffers, lobbyists, civil servants and their families are alleged to have been involved in corruption, money laundering and organised crime involving the state of Qatar in exchange for influence at the European Parliament. Qatar denies the allegations. Law enforcement authorities in Belgium, Italy and Greece seized €1.5 million in cash, confiscated computers and mobile phones, and charged four individuals with the alleged offences. | |
| Qatargate | 2025 | A scandal in Israel in which top aides in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were allegedly being paid by Qatar. | |
| Railgate | 2007 | Scandal and court proceeding involving influence peddling and abuse of privilege in regard to the sale of BC Rail to Canadian National Railways by the government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, the raid of government offices in the provincial legislature building on December 28, 2003. | |
| Raeesah-gate | 2021–2026 | Singaporean politician Raeesah Khan resigned on November 30, 2021, after admitted to making unsubstantiated allegations in Parliament on three occasions. Investigations from the Parliament's Committee of Privileges referred that Khan's party, the Workers' Party, found that its secretary-general Pritam Singh and assistant chairman Faisal Manap had potentially misled the Parliament according to the public prosecutor. Singh was fined S$7,000 for each of the two charges he was convicted of, while Faisal was given a warning from the police. Singh lodged an appeal on 17 February 2025 after his judgement, which was later dismissed on 4 December that same year. On 15 January 2026, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong rescinds Singh's position as the Leader of the Opposition under the Parliament's recommendation from a motion which was passed the day before. | |
| Ranjangate | 2020 | A collection of audio recordings of phone calls between Sri Lankan MP Ranjan Ramanayake and several high-ranking government officials were leaked to the media. | |
| Ridoutgate | 2023 | Singapore-based government agency Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau investigated ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan on the rentals of 26 and 31 Ridout Road respectively, after a blog post was published by opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam and initiated the case. Investigations were held from 23 May until 28 June, and revealed that neither ministers were convicted, with Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who launched its independent review on the situation, mentioned that there was "no abuse of power or conflict of interest resulting in the ministers gaining any unfair advantage or privilege". | |
| Rinkagate | 1976 | UK scandal in which Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the UK Liberal Party, lost his position and his seat in Parliament after being accused of involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to murder an alleged former gay lover. Thorpe was eventually acquitted, but the scandal and an unrelated personal illness ended his career. "Rinka" refers to a Great Dane that was killed in the attack. | |
| Robogate | 2011 | Allegations of widespread voter fraud targeting non-Conservative voters occurring during the 2011 Canadian federal election. Robotic and live calls to voters are claimed to have been made in 200 ridings. Investigation by the RCMP, the Conservative Party, and Elections Canada. | |
| Rolexgate | 2024 | Allegations of corruption involving Rolex watches and Peruvian President, Dina Boluarte. | |
| Russiagate | 2016 | The controversy and investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election regarding the links between Trump associates and Russian officials and the Trump campaign's cooperation with that interference. | |
| Russiagate | 2024 | Scandal of Russian interference in EU elections. | |
| Rywingate | 2002 | A corruption scandal in Poland, which began in late 2002 while the post-communist government of the SLD was in power. It is named after the film producer Lew Rywin, who was a key figure. | |
| St Louis gate or Saint Louis gate | 2020 | Corruption scandal in Mauritius regarding the award of a contract for the upgrade of an existing diesel power station at St. Louis, on the outskirts of capital city Port Louis. Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor of Denmark was awarded the contract by the Mauritian power-generating entity Central Electricity Board following a tender issued in 2014. A whistleblower alerted the financier African Development Bank that the award to BWSC occurred after bribes had been received by several CEB employees through an intermediary of BWSC who owns a Mauritian construction company. ADB investigated the claims and thus excluded BWSC from all future work for 21 months. Leader of Opposition Arvin Boolell raised this issue in Parliament and several employees of CEB were stood down. | |
| Salmondgate | 2018 | Scandal involving former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond who had been accused of sexually harassing two female aides in Bute House, Edinburgh. Salmond was eventually acquitted. | |
| Sharpiegate | 2019 | Repeated assertions by US president Donald Trump, falsely claiming that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama, showing a map altered using a black marker pen, and having the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publish statements in support of his claims. | |
| Shawinigate | 1999 | Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home riding of Shawinigan, Quebec | |
| Shitholegate | 2018 | During a meeting with lawmakers about immigration, President Trump is reported to have asked, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" | |
| Signalgate | 2025 | A scandal in which Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the American magazine The Atlantic, was accidentally added to a Signal group chat where high level US government officials used the unsecure application to discuss sensitive military operations against the Houthis in Yemen prior to the operations taking place. | |
| Sleep-gate | 2018 | Conservative MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Bill Grant was twice caught sleeping in the House of Commons. First, in December 2017, Grant appeared to have fallen asleep during a debate on pensions equality for women however, he claimed he was "listening intently". Then, in July 2018, during questions to the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, Grant was again caught asleep but this time admitted that he had taken "a wee nap" and was "guilty as charged". | |
| Sofagate | 2021 | The event when the first female EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen had to take place on a sofa while EU council president Charles Michel and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were offered seats | |
| Sophiegate | 2001 | Tape of a conversation between Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Mazher Mahmood. | |
| Squidgygate | 1992 | Tape of a telephone conversation between Diana, Princess of Wales and a male friend. | |
| Stickygate | 2020 | During the recount for the 2020 New York's 22nd congressional district election, sticky notes used by some boards of elections to mark disputed ballots fell off and became attached to other ballots. | |
| Stormontgate | 2005 | Allegations of a Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring operating in Stormont. | |
| Strippergate (Seattle) | 2003 | Two separate government scandals and criminal investigations on the West Coast of the United States, both involving state and local politicians, strip clubs and organized crime. | |
| Strippergate (Canada) | 2004-5 | Canadian federal immigration minister Judy Sgro was accused of providing favours to people who helped with her political campaigning during the 2004 Canadian federal election. | |
| Strippergate (Israel) | 2018 | Yair Netanyahu was secretly filmed at a Tel Aviv strip club, referring to a controversial gas deal signed by his father, the Prime Minister of Israel | |
| Swinggate | 2019 | Irish politician Maria Bailey sued a hotel after falling off a swing while holding a drink, at a time when insurance costs were rising due to high levels of personal injury claims. | |
| Tampongate | 1993 | Following the release of a tape of a telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. | |
| Taxigate | 2005 | Conservative Party leader David McLetchie was found to have claimed an excessive amount in taxi expenses many of which were for party business rather than parliament business. The debacle resulted in McLetchie's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. | |
| Telegramgate | 2019 | A political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, Governor of Puerto Rico, that began on July 8, 2019, with the leaking of several pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram. The leak came in the midst of allegations by the ex-Secretary of Puerto Rico's Treasury, Raúl Maldonado Gautier, that his department boasted an "institutional mafia" which Rosselló was involved in. | |
| Thulegate | 1995 | Danish scandal regarding the storage of nuclear weapons in Greenland in the late 1950s and 1960s, in contravention of Denmark's nuclear-free policy. | |
| Toallagate | 2001 | Scandal in Mexico due to the high cost of bathroom towels bought for the official residence of the Mexican president. | |
| Traingate | 2016 | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn filmed a short video of him sitting on the floor of a packed UK train on a three-hour journey saying he would not pay to upgrade his ticket to business class saying "after all it is the people's money". A couple of days later, Virgin Trains East Coast released CCTV footage challenging the Labour leader's claim, in which after filming the short video, Corbyn got up and sat in spare seats with his aides. The hashtag "traingate" trended highly on social media with Corbyn responding that he hoped Virgin Trains owner Richard Branson was "well aware" of his plans to re-nationalise the railways. | |
| Travelgate | 1993 | Controversy surrounding the firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration. | |
| Travelgate (South Africa) | 2006 | A controversy and resulting court case in South Africa involving Bathabile Dlamini and 13 other African National Congress government ministers who pleaded guilty of fraud after claiming travel benefits amounting to R254,000. | |
| Troopergate | 1994 | Allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton. | |
| Troopergate | 2007 | Controversy involving New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly ordered the state police to create special records of senate majority leader Joseph Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City. | |
| Troopergate | 2008 | The controversy surrounding allegations that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee for the United States presidential election, fired the state's public safety commissioner, allegedly for not cooperating with her demand that he dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. Palin used the term "Taser-gate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a taser on his 10-year-old stepson. | |
| Trousergate | 2016 | Controversy following a photograph taken of then UK Prime Minister Theresa May in The Sunday Times in which she was wearing a pair of brown leather trousers, reportedly worth £1000. Former Conservative Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan criticized May for the photo and claimed she had never spent that amount of money on anything except her wedding dress. When Morgan withdrew from her scheduled appearance on Have I Got News for You on December 16 at short notice, following an ensuing row with May's aide Fiona Hill, she was replaced with a leather handbag on the show after it transpired she owned a similar bag costing £950. | |
| Tunagate | 1985 | Canadian political scandal involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna that were sold to the public. | |
| Ukrainegate | 2019 | A conversation between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which an intelligence analyst who listened in on the conversation filed a whistleblower complaint that Trump was demanding that Ukraine commence an investigation of Hunter Biden, as well as unofficial clandestine diplomatic efforts by Rudy Giuliani and threats to withhold Congressionally-approved military aid. | |
| Utegate | 2009 | Australian political incident in June 2009 around the lending of a utility vehicle ("ute") to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by car dealer John Grant, and subsequent allegations of improper favorable treatment of Grant by the Treasury department. | |
| Valijagate | 2007 | Venezuelan-American entrepreneur Guido Antonini Wilson arrived in Argentina on a private flight hired by Argentine state officials carrying US$800,000 in cash, which he failed to declare. | |
| Watergate (United States) | 1972–1974 | The original "gate" scandal got its name from the Watergate Office Building, where two politically motivated burglaries took place in 1972. The Watergate scandal ultimately led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. | |
| Watergate | 2019– | An Australian political scandal surrounding an AUD$80 million water buyback in 2017 by the federal government as part of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. The buyback was approved by Barnaby Joyce, and the money went to a private company registered in the Cayman Islands, which was co-founded by Angus Taylor. Joyce and Taylor were both government ministers and members of the National Party. | |
| Water Bottle-gate | 2013 | A media controversy wherein US Senator Marco Rubio interrupted his rebuttal to President Obama's state of the union address to grab an offscreen bottle of water and take a drink. | |
| Waterkantgate | 1987 | A major political scandal in Germany. West German politician Uwe Barschel allegedly issued orders for political rival Björn Engholm to be spied upon, with the aim of bringing tax evasion charges against him; as well as orders to install a bugging device in his own phone to frame Engholm's party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Barschel's guilt was never proven. | |
| Weinergate | 2011 | US Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account linked to an inappropriate photograph. Weiner claimed that his account had been hacked, but later admitted he sent the tweet; numerous other lewd photographs from Weiner were later revealed. In 2013, after he resigned from the House and attempted to return to politics by running for mayor of New York City, it was revealed that he had been involved in another sexting relationship with a woman in her early twenties. | |
| Willowgate | 1988–1989 | A corruption scandal in Zimbabwe in which The Bulawayo Chronicle revealed illegal resale of automobile purchases by various government officials. The ensuing investigation resulted in the resignations of five members of President Robert Mugabe's cabinet. One of the five, Maurice Nyagumbo, later committed suicide after being charged with perjury. The reporters who had broken the story, Geoffrey Nyarota and Davison Maruziva, were subsequently removed from their posts. | |
| Vacunagate | 2021 | 487 people were irregularly vaccinated against COVID-19. Among these people were former president Martín Vizcarra and high-ranking officials of the Peruvian government such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elizabeth Astete and the Minister of Health Pilar Mazzetti. | |
| Omtzigtgate, Scoutinggate or Scoutsgate | 2021 | In March 2021, Dutch cabinet formation scout Kajsa Ollongren left Parliament in a hurry after learning of her positive COVID-test. A photograph showed her legible notes. It read among other things: "position Omtzigt, position elsewhere". Pieter Omtzigt is a critical and rebellious MP. Ollongren and her colleague resigned shortly after. Prime Minister and party leader Mark Rutte claimed that he had not discussed Omtzigt. Documents later showed the opposite. Rutte claimed he did not remember. After he said he had been notified of the documents' content hours before the debate and ahead of other leaders, and refused to say by whom, an unsuccessful motion of no confidence was introduced. |
Technology
| Name | Year | Description | Country | |
| Antennagate | 2010 | The name the media applied to the controversy over the Apple iPhone 4's antenna after initial users complained of dropped calls and Consumer Reports would not recommend it. | United States | |
| Audiblegate | 2020 | The controversy around Audible secretly deducting costs of audiobook returns from rights holders even though the listener had already listened to it before returning it. | Worldwide | |
| Batterygate | 2016 | Involves the implementation of performance controls on older models of Apple's iPhone line in order to preserve system stability on degraded batteries. | Worldwide | |
| Bendgate | 2014 | Numerous people reported bent Apple iPhone 6 Plus phones, which was later reported on by Consumer Reports. | United States | |
| Bumpgate | 2008 | Nvidia Graphics Processing Unit chips experienced high failure rates because a design flaw lead to cracked solder bumps | Worldwide | |
| Chipgate | 2015 | Apple used two different kinds of processors in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, one made by Samsung and the other by TSMC, with the Samsung one running hotter and using more power. | United States | |
| Dieselgate (or Emissionsgate) | 2015 | International Council on Clean Transportation and West Virginia University caught Volkswagen cheating on emissions tests on about 11 million diesel cars by programming them to enable emissions controls during testing, but not control [Nitrogen oxide|] pollution during real world driving | Worldwide | |
| Donglegate | 2013 | At a Python Conference, a misinterpretation of the words "dongle" and "forking" led to two people being fired and a DDoS attack. | United States | |
| Flexgate | 2019 | Some of Apple's fourth generation MacBook Pro can feature uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen, which looks a bit like a "stage light" effect, and the display can eventually fail entirely after frequent opening and close the lid due to fragile flex cable. | Worldwide | |
| Locationgate | 2011 | The controversy surrounding the discovery that the Apple iPhone stored location coordinates and timestamps of owner's movements in a hidden file, with a year's worth of location recorded on the phone. Led to multiple class action lawsuits, a US Senate hearing, and a mention on South Park. | Worldwide | |
| MoFi Gate | 2022 | The controversy within the audiophile and vinyl communities surrounding the discovery that audiophile reissue label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab was pressing records using digital masters, despite implying in their marketing that they were using all-analogue sources. | Worldwide | |
| Notegate | 2016 | Lithium-ion batteries spontaneously combusting in Samsung's Galaxy Note 7. | Worldwide | |
| Pengate | 2015 | Anger over Samsung's design flaw in the Galaxy Note 5 which allows the stylus to be put in backwards. Once the stylus was put in backwards, it got stuck and destroyed the sensors that detected stylus removal. | United States | |
| Petrikgate | 2009–2012 | An attempt by the Russian pseudoscientist Viktor Petrik and the politician Boris Gryzlov to get a contract for a massive amount of low quality water filters at an inflated price under the guise of cutting-edge new technology. | Russia | |
| Rapidgate | 2018 | A phenomenon in the rapid charging of a few electric car models where the charging speed is greatly reduced due to high battery temperatures after the first or second rapid charge. This causes much longer charging stops on long road trips. Most other cars have cooling systems and are not affected. Also, in low temperatures, Lithium Ion batteries would be damaged if charged too fast. Most cars can heat up their battery, either from the grid when plugged in, or even from the battery itself when a charging stop is planned. | Worldwide | |
| Radeongate | 2011 | In 2011 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models, the AMD Radeon HD 6000M series graphics processing units were prone to catastrophically failing due to poor usage of lead-free solder, as well as poor thermal design being implemented into the laptops. | Worldwide | |
| Resolutiongate | 2013 | A controversy about the resolution on the Xbox One console. | Worldwide | |
| Shirtgate | 2014 | Matt Taylor, a Rosetta mission project scientist, wore a homemade shirt at an ESA press conference that caused concern. | United States | |
| Staingate | 2015 | Anger over reports that the anti-reflective coating appeared to be wearing off several Apple MacBook Pros, including mid-2012 to mid-2014 models sold between June 2012 and present. | United States | |
| Webcamgate | 2010 | Lower Merion School District allegedly do surveillance by using student's Apple MacBooks | United States |
Conspiracy theories
These conspiracy theories have been given the -gate suffix by both supporters and critics of them.| Name | Year | Description | Country | |
| Italygate | 2020–present | Allegations that the 2020 United States presidential election was rigged in Joe Biden's favor by switching votes from Donald Trump to Biden at the US Embassy in Rome. | United States | |
| Kategate | 2024 | Speculation and gossip concerned with Catherine, Princess of Wales prior to the public announcement of her cancer diagnosis. | United Kingdom | |
| Obamagate | 2020 | Used by President Donald Trump as a nickname for unsubstantiated claims that his predecessor Barack Obama had spied on his incoming administration. | United States | |
| Pencilgate | 2016 | Allegations that the use of pencils in UK voting stations in the lead-up to the EU membership referendum allowed for MI5 to erase the results of Brexit voters. This led to the hashtags #Usepens and #Pencilgate on social media in the UK. | United Kingdom | |
| Piggate | 2015 | The name given to the accusation Lord Ashcroft made against British Prime Minister David Cameron, of performing a ritual in which he engaged in sexual acts with a dead pig's head. | United Kingdom | |
| Pizzagate | 2016–present | In reference to an alleged child-sex trafficking ring run by high-ranking Democratic Party officials out of the basement of a pizza restaurant. | United States | |
| Sharpiegate | 2020 | Allegations that the use of marker pens invalidated ballots in the 2020 United States presidential election in the state of Arizona. | United States | |
| Spygate | 2018 | A conspiracy theory initiated by President Donald Trump in May 2018 that the Obama administration had put a spy in his 2016 presidential campaign for political purposes. | United States |
In popular culture
The suffix has also been commonly used in the context of popular media, including satirical usage by television pundits and viewers of reality shows.| Name | Year | Description | |
| Dressgate | 2015 | Debate over whether a popular photograph depicted a blue-and-black dress or a white-and-gold one. |