As was revealed in the course of the three criminal cases that resulted from this scheme, the motivations of these public officials constituted petty politics at their very worst. In recent years, the court has decisively narrowed the government's ability to charge public officials with federal crimes for corruption offenses, most notably in the 2016 US v. McDonnell decision. Join us on Twitter and FacebookInvestigating and prosecuting public corruption is already a massive challenge. That leaves federal prosecutors, working with increasingly diminished federal laws, to fill the void. The court should think long and hard before making sweeping pronouncements in the Bridgegate case that will take away yet another tool prosecutors can use against corrupt public officials.

Source: CNN January 19, 2020 01:18 UTC