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[timelets]

Elements of Bribery

In order to find the president guilty of the crime of bribery, the House must prove each of the following elements:

First, that the president, on or about July 25, 2019, demanded, sought or received something of value;

Second, that at that time the president was then a public official; and

Third, that the president did so with the corrupt intent to be influenced in the performance of an official act.

The bribery law makes no distinction between demanding, seeking or receiving a bribe; the mere seeking of a bribe is just as much a violation of the statute as the actual receiving of one.

The thing of value may be tangible property, intangible property, or services, of any dollar value, so long as it has value.

Corrupt intent means simply having an improper motive or purpose. The president must have demanded, sought or received a thing of value with the deliberate purpose of being influenced in the performance of his official duties. This involves conscious wrongdoing, or as it has sometimes been expressed, a bad or evil state of mind.

An official act means any decision or action on any question or matter that may at any time be pending or that may by law be brought before any public official in his official capacity or in his place of trust.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/some-relevant-points-law-impeachment

At first, I struggled to understand the meaning of "being influenced." It turns out, in case law the phrase means that actions of a government official depend on receiving something of private value. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1207254.html

Comments

[timelets]

Good point. Thanks.