I don’t understand how this isn’t a criminal matter. If nothing else, it violates the Ethics in Government Act. Is there no law against soliciting and accepting bribes?
This was discussed yesterday on one of the talking heads shows. The problem is that there’s little to nothing in the act regarding enforcement or punishment. So basically, it comes down to this:
EIGA: Don’t accept bribes. Bribes are bad.
Thomas: Nah, I’ll take them anyway. What are you going to do about it.
EIGA: …
Even if he were to be found guilty of a crime, it would be up to Congress to enforce the Constitutional provision about being in good standing. Which puts us right back to where we are now: If congress were willing to do that, they’d already be doing it and we wouldn’t be having this discussion in the first place.
This was discussed yesterday on one of the talking heads shows. The problem is that there’s little to nothing in the act regarding enforcement or punishment. So basically, it comes down to this:
EIGA: Don’t accept bribes. Bribes are bad.
Thomas: Nah, I’ll take them anyway. What are you going to do about it. EIGA: …
Even if he were to be found guilty of a crime, it would be up to Congress to enforce the Constitutional provision about being in good standing. Which puts us right back to where we are now: If congress were willing to do that, they’d already be doing it and we wouldn’t be having this discussion in the first place.