Call it what it is: bribery

Now it turns out that Harlan Crow paid for private school tuition for a Clarence Thomas grandnephew that Thomas raised "as a son." Of course, there will be no consequences for Thomas for this or the other blatant examples of bribery.

From a comment thread over at jabberwocking.com:

"Congress should criminalize - like "mandatory time served in jail" criminalize - the gift givers for giving gifts over a low threshold to government officials. But just like how we almost never go after employers for employing undocumented immigrants, we also won't go after the gift givers for giving bribes... er, I mean, gifts... either."

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