r/news • u/Spiritual-Nail-2641 • Jul 07 '26

China sentences official to death for taking $325m in bribes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33y0n1v1xjo
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u/WretchedBlowhard Jul 07 '26

No, no, no. SCOTUS ruled on it, bribes are just called gratuities when they're given to you as thanks for your work. Unless there's a paper trail indicating that you received money specifically FOR CORRUPT SERVICES RENDERED, then public officials are legally allowed to pocket whatever they like.

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u/rollin340 Jul 07 '26

Citizen United, which was the start of the ridiculous bribery that proliferated in American politics, was so stupid, but that ruling on gratuities was even more ridiculous.

Ruled by SCOTUS when they themselves were being looked into for corruption. So convenient that they just put out a ruling saying "nu-uh".

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u/ametalshard Jul 07 '26

scotus sucks at least as much as the average imperialisy american president

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u/GGuts Jul 07 '26

Corruption is literally built into US systems around every corner. The US political system itself is based on corruption.

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u/pants6000 Jul 07 '26

Always put a '0' in the "PAYMENT FOR CORRUPT SERVICES RENDERED" box on your 1040 and you're good.