While #Congress & the presidency have been working hard to raise the #ExecutiveBranch above the #law, #SCOTUS has done its part to ensure that laws against #bribery & #corruption are near-unenforceable. With a series of rulings on #CampaignFinance, the #JohnRoberts Court has ensured that the #rich can try to buy #elections without formally breaking the law. As a result, #politicians are #indebted to a few hundred #billionaires who drop unholy amounts of cash every #election cycle.
Getting convicted of #bribery in the #US requires some serious effort—take fmr Democratic Sen #BobMenendez of NJ, who was convicted of selling influence on behalf of local businesses & the country of Egypt after being caught with gold bars in his house. When #Trump first took office, he paused enforcement of foreign bribery cases entirely—but there are some signs that he intends to revive such prosecutions as a #weapon against his enemies, in the mold of the Hungarian #strongman Victor #Orbán.