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Comment by mcphage | Hacker News Reader

I would say there’s no concealment at all. It’s a naked bribe and flattery. But bribery is legal now.

> bribery is legal now

It’s not. And it will probably be investigated by a future administration when we do a Nuremberg-style review of this term.

In the last decade, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that bribery is de facto legal and impossible to prosecute (Kelly v. United States, McDonnell v. United States, FEC vs. Ted Cruz). And those were against relative nobodies, they certainly aren't going to permit charges against anyone in this administration.

None of those three cases have to do with bribery, at least not receiving bribes for official action. Here's some nuance: Kelly concerns retaliation, McDonnell concerns whether hosting meetings and events amounts to official action, and FEC concern the limit (was $250,000) on the amount of post-election contributions which may be used to repay campaign debts.

It's also worth noting that Kelly was unanimous and FEC upheld the ruling of the district court which the FEC had appealed.

It’s also worth noting that Bob Menende is in jail.

Here, I'll save you the trouble:

"Now isn't the time for recriminations for behavior long in the past, now is the time for forgiveness. Time to reach across the aisle in unity, time to heal the nation." - Democrats

Newsom is starting to get it. But it's lividly clear that a straight shot to the Democratic Presidential nomination, and probably the White House, is embracing the new Presidential powers Trump and the Roberts Court have spun up to pursue Democratic policy goals and retribution against MAGA's least popular.

Per the Roberts court I think those powers only work for Republican presidents, see Biden's successes on things like student loan forgiveness.

that's optimistic

I've heard that one of the advantages of this administration is that you don't need data or convincing arguments -- just bribery and flattery. If you're OK with bribery and flattery then you'll find this administration much easier to work with. Getting your way is a simpler path.

> But bribery is legal now.

Only because no one can prosecute it without retaliation from petulant man-children.

There's enough to allow their followers to pretend it's all on the level, and for people who aren't paying much attention to ignore it. A direct bribe would make that quite a bit harder.

Even if it was, there are other ways to go. The emoluments clause would be my guess. This term is the auction off America plan. Go read the NPR article on the gutting of nuclear safety rules. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/g-s1-107650/up-first-newslett... Who needs easy access to nuclear reactors? Tech billionaires possibly... Would you want to live next to a Grok data center? Iterate quickly and fail fast is not really compatible with nuclear reactor design. At least rocket debris a relatively short window of danger.

> the gutting of nuclear safety rules.

Sadly, small beer now that nuclear containment has also expired and been cleared from the table.

The Last Nuclear Deal Is Expiring. Does Anyone Care? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46821225

Nuclear Arms Race 2.0: Ready, Set, Already Go .. You're Late!

> bribery is legal now

emolument clause be dammed.

it turns out all you need to do is 1) blatantly ignore/violate the law, 2) have appointed justices to the court who will provide you will full immunity while in office (Trump vs United States)

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